Eleanor Alone
by 009nhalf
Summary: After being suffocated by her mother, Eleanor finds herself revived in a broken down Vita-Chamber in Pauper's Drop with no knowlegde of how she died or ended up there. She encircles Rapture for clues about her life and mysterious death.
1. Long lost forgetful love

**Disclaimer Stuff: I do not own legal rights to Bioshock or Bioshock 2. They belongs to 2K games, Marin, Australia, China, Take-Two Interactive Software and (Gasp) Digital Extremes. The opening um... Poem also isn't my creation but was taken from an Audio Record found in Fort Frolic which happens to be my favorite area.**

Delta stood only feet from his daughter stuck in the decontamination chamber. Eleanor slept soundly while her mother remained on the far side of the room sadly gazing at her daughter. He could have broken the glass at any moment through numerous means but could not… not at the risk of hurting his daughter.

Sofia Lamb brought her cigarette to her crimson lips and enjoyed her poison once more. Her eyes slowly tilted up to see what she considered an abomination. "Look at her Delta… Ten years and still she dreams of you."

(Fifty seconds remaining)

Sofia took note of the decontamination chamber's count down and continued. "You know why Eleanor brought you here. She wanted… a father."

Almost as if a response to the word 'father', Eleanor started tossing and turning as she evaded the demons in her dream. Delta looked upon her daughter as she tossed and turned. Her face strained a sense of dread and her mouth formed the words "daddy no". Delta immediately realized what scene in her life she was reliving: his death. He wanted to reach out and comfort her. To tell her everything was going to be all right.

"So she found a way to restore you in body and mind," said Sofia taking another drag. "And she has been watching you ever since. Exalting your every act as gospel. The girl lying on that bed is no longer my child nor my life's work. She is a monster shaped by you alone…," Sofia took one final puff of her cigarette before tossing it aside. The rolled tobacco bounced twice expelling its ash on the cold hard floor. "Just as she always wanted."

(twenty minutes remaining)

Sofia Lamb arose from her chair in the same manner she completed any task: cool, collected, and strategically. But her heart wavered at this last task she must commit for the sake of the people. She stared her nemesis in the face hating every fiber of his being for forcing her hand so.

"But there is one detail of your mutual bond she failed to account for. Your body was designed to lasp into a coma when her heart ceases to beat." Sofia pulled Eleanor's pillow out from under her head. Delta looked on, helpless to keep her daughter from harm.

"Eleanor," Lamb said raising the pillow above her head. "Forgive me." Sofia Lamb brought the pillow down upon her daughter's face and held it there with all her might while Eleanor struggled. In a matter of moments Delta's daughter ceased struggling and fell upon the floor dead next to her only father who also lay there dying.

'Forgive me' were the last words Eleanor remembered right before she felt herself being smothered. Her lungs screamed for that which she could not grant. She struggled, flaying her arms, but to no avail. Her mouth frothed and her eyes grew dim as she hit the floor hard and then nothing. Nothing but the neon green light of Vita-Chamber surrounding her. The doors opened abruptly taking away her only crutch.

Eleanor crumpled to the ground outside the chamber. She turned around and peered into the place of her rebirth only to see the Vita-Chamber fizzle and then explode. The glass panels fell to the sides and shattered around her. The girl tried to breath but found the air sucked out of her and instead vomited bile where she lay. Eleanor stumbled to her feet and wiped her mouth with a quivering hand.

Her surroundings appeared to be pretty rural though a lot of the buildings were boarded up. The place was in disrepair and ghostly but for some reason also familiar in a warm kind of way. Eleanor stumbled around a corner and down a series of stairs. She took a couple a couple more steps only to be tripped by a pile of debris. Her fall unexpectedly halted when a pair of arms caught her midair. She looked up to find her rescuer was a black woman shorter than her wearing a white shawl over a tan dress that was slightly frayed.

"Why it's m-my baby girl, come back to me," the black woman cried out with tears of elated joy. "But what's happened to you child. What monstrosity has left you like this? I swear to god if it was that fiend Delta I will..."

Even in the woman's arms, Eleanor found herself swaying back and forth. "Who? Who are you?" She then collapsed almost taking the black woman with her. The woman calmed her fears and called for assistance. As strong arms carried her away the woman she had just met walked beside her.

"Don't worry baby. Don't you worry about a thing. Aunt Gracie is here. You're in good hands now."

Eleanor listened to the unfamiliar yet comforting voice as she drifted in and out of consciousness as she was carried through the streets of Pauper's Drop.

**Author's Notes: Yes the first part of this story was derived from the video game. I actually tried to go scene for scene with it but that really ends there. I kinda find myself a stickler for detail(especially since i love this game) and you will find that i will borrow heavily upon it to keep up the continuity. That aside what do you think? I personally see great things for this fanfic. I sincerly hope you do too. By the way, ever seen the Sixth Day with Arnold Schwarzenegger. When one of the bad guys die with his neck being broke his clone still feels the injury although not having recieved it. Gooood stuff.**


	2. Questions unanswered

Like always, Eleanor had been told to wait in her hidey-hole for her daddy. But unlike most days, today was very special to her. It was her birthday and one of her bestest friends had given her a doll shaped like her very own big daddy. So even while Delta was gone, she still had the doll to keep her company. The doll danced in her arms and she hugged her most precious possession to her chest.

(Pound-Pound)

The sound make Eleanor jump not from fright but pure delight. HER big daddy, her knight in shining armor had arrived. In her giddiness, Eleanor scrambled to the exit of her cubby-hole and into the awaiting arms of Delta.

"Look daddy it's you," she exclaimed holding out her cute doll.

Delta said nothing in reply but picked up his beloved charge and placed her on the ground. As soon as her tiny feet touched the marble floor, Eleanor began tugging on her knight's hand urging him forward.

"Let's go out to play daddy…"

They traversed down the corridor hand in hand as if a father and daughter out on a picnic.

Eleanor awoke from her dream to two sensations: She was warm and something was blaring in the background. No, not blaring whistling. She opened a lazy eye to see steam spewing from a metal pot across the room from the bed were she was laying. She tried to say something but all that came out was a whimper. Her stomach, it hurt. Each breath was taken with labor. Eleanor struggled to upright herself but her hand slipped causing her to fall to the floor.

"Oh my heavens," shouted Gracie upon entering the room. "Dear what happened to you? Johnson, Johnson come immediately!"

A tall man with wearing a white coat rushed over placing Eleanor back on the bed.

"My word, don't give me a heart attack dear. I thought- I thought… well no matter dear you're doin' just fine. Doc Johnson and his assistant Lucy here are going to make certain. You just rest and let this good man do his job."

While Gracie tended to the kettle, the doctor proceeded to examine her pulse by pressing two fingers two her wrist. "Her blood pressure seems to be low... your stomach!"

Doc Johnson tore the fabric of Eleanor's dress around her stomach revealing a shard of glass that had lodged itself through her abdomen. For a moment the doctor stared at the bright ruby colored blood that ran down her midriff. Gracie's hands started shaking and she crumpled against the wall dropping her cane. Doc looked towards the door and saw multiple faces staring.

"Lucy I need you to quickly grab some clean sheets we can use for bandages and Joe you need to get these people out of here. Gracie I…"

Gracie was no longer on the floor but back at Eleanor's side holding her hand while the girl grimaced.

"Doc Johnson, if you try to ask me to go one more time I will break your jaw with my cane. And trust me that is one thing you don't want to feel."

Doc Johnson prepped his tools in the time it took for Lucy to return with adequate strips of cloth to clot the bleeding. With doors shut and blinds closed they started the procedure by using a pair of scissors to cut Eleanor's partially blood-soaked dress apart, leaving her in her underwear. After dabbing up the blood that had been pooling around the wound they doused the area in alcohol. Eleanor, drowsy from the blood loss, grimaced in pain while squeezing Gracie's hand.

Doc Johnson picked a pair of tweezers then paused turning to Gracie. "I'm about to extract the shard."

Gracie had been muttering sentences under her breath ever since Doc had started. She remained that way and only nodded her consent.

Doc then turned to his assistant, Lucy. "Be ready to apply the bandages the moment the shard is free." He took a deep breath and grasped the shard. With a steady hand he lifted the shard out of Eleanor's stomach. Eleanor screamed in agonizing pain as the shard was dislodged. She tried to struggle but was held down by several pairs of hands while Lucy applied several bandages.

When Eleanor stopped thrashing, Doc Johnson moved over to his assistant.

"How is the bleeding has it stopped?" He stared at the bandages to find them white as snow.

"Mr. Johnson, the bleeding seems to have ceased. S-She has yet to bleed through the bandages at all."

In disbelief, Doc Johnson slowly lifted up the first layer of bandages then the second. He continued to pull away the strips until he came to Eleanor's naked midriff which, other than dried blood, had already healed over without even a scar. Gracie clapped her hands together and sang praises while Doc Johnson took Eleanor's vitals a second time only to find her healthy again.

Doc rubbed the area where the scar previously was only to cause Eleanor to laugh. The sound only further caused Gracie to elate.

Gracie bent over and hugged Eleanor where she lay. "I almost lost for a second time in my life but the good lord saw fit to bring you back. Don't ever leave me again baby."

"I won't," whispered Eleanor. She still did not know who this person was but somehow this embrace felt familiar to her.

A few seconds later, Gracie pulled herself away from Eleanor and extended her hand to the doctor. "Doc Johnson. You are a miracle worker. You brought my baby back from the brink of death's doors. I am eternally indebted to you."

The doctor was cleaning his instrument while marveling at the speedy recovery. The only other person he had seen heal that fast was a… little sister. He turned around and saw Gracie offering her thanks and accepted it out of politeness.

"I really did nothing but retrieve the shard. It was thanks your girl's extraordinary healing ability she's alive right now. But anyway I really must be going. Lucy, come let's give these two some privacy."

The two people were left in each other's company. An awkward moment of silence past.

"I know dear," she said clapping her hands together. "I'll put the kettle back on and you're probably thirsty. I'll go fetch a glass of water from the tap and I've got the perfect dress to replace that rag. Don't go anywhere baby, Aunt Gracie will fix you up."

Gracie reset the kettle to boil then left the room closing the door behind her. The sound of her cane in tempo with her feet could be heard down the hallway. Eleanor got to her feet then grabbed the banister to steady herself. It seemed to her that the loss of blood was affecting her more than she had original thought.

Using the wall to upright herself, she traversed the room. Next to the wooden door was an old dresser on which a black and white picture stood leaning against an object. Eleanor snatched up the picture and saw a little girl with pony tails standing in front of Gracie. The little girl's smile spoke of warmth and tenderness. The object the picture was leaning on turned out to be a doll with a baseball head and a broken watch for a face. A tear suddenly plashed against the leather of the dolls head. To her surprise, Eleanor found that it was she who was crying when the second tear rolled down her face.

"That doll was given to me by one of those little devils with the pink dresses and evil eyes," said Gracie as she entered the room with a glass of water in hand and a backpack in the other. The woman motion for Eleanor to sit on the bed and handed her the glass. Gracie walked over to the dresser and put the backpack on top then opened up a drawer.

"The little demon told me… she told me my baby was alright. But enough chitter-chatter. Try this on hon." From the dresser Gracie retrieved a blue dress forgotten by time and man.

Eleanor's eyes widened with glee. She threw the dress over her head as quickly as she could. The fit could not be more perfect.

"What do you think dear? It was originally made as a gift for one of my stage hands but then the revolt happened and… Well, I'd hate for that beautiful dress to go to waste. Here check yourself out in the mirror."

At the foot of the bed were two doors leading to a small closet. Gracie opened one of the doors revealing a partially cracked mirror that ran the entire length.

Eleanor peered into her reflection with eyes that almost seemed to stare back. Her hair was like a ravens: black as night. And her eyes were as blue as the ocean and just as deep. Her small pink lips parted in awe then in joy. For the first time, since she had exited the Vita-Chamber, she felt happy. Eleanor turned to Gracie with a sheepish grin on her face.

"Thank you Ma'am."

Eleanor's gratitude pleased but also saddened the woman for it had revealed the unbearable truth: the girl really did not remember her former caretaker.

Eleanor saw the woman's reaction and faltered in her own glee. She decided to fix the situation the best way she knew how. She grabbed the picture off the dresser and handed it to Gracie.

"Mrs. Gracie?"

"Gracie will do just fine dear."

"Gracie, the girl in the photo… standing in from of you, is that me? Can you tell me who I am?"

Gracie sighed as she reflected on happier days. "You are Eleanor Lamb, child. Your mother, Sofia Lamb, was a courageous woman who fought for the common folk. For her actions, the government saw fit to lock her up. But before they could, she saw fit to give you to me to look after. It was the happiest time of my life. I treated you as if you were my own. This picture was taken the day you disappeared. We had decided to go to Dionysus Park that day. After we rode the merry-go-round, this man with a camera asked to take our picture. As it came time to leave I-I couldn't find you baby. You were nowhere to be found."

Gracie paused for a second to wipe her eyes with a stowed handkerchief.

Eleanor pondered at what Gracie had told her. What bothered her more than not remembering anything was the fact that she felt nothing either. She now knew who she used to be but what was she now? Another question hit her. "What about my mother? What does she look like?"

"Oh honey, your mother is a beautiful person just as you are. You may not have her blonde hair but you have her lovely and unwavering eyes."

Eleanor still found herself full of questions. "A-Aunt Gracie, how did I get here? If I came out of the Vita-Chamber… does that not mean I died? What of my mother?"


	3. The fears of the many

Eleanor still found herself full of questions. "A-Aunt Gracie, how did I get here? If I came out of the Vita-Chamber… does that not mean I died? What of my mother?"

"Honey you're askin a lot of questions that I don't have answers to. Last time I heard you were in Persephone with your mother. I can't help you dear but I do know somebody that can. I have to confess the moment I saw you again I had the feelin you were goin to leave again. I just didn't think it be this soon. Here take this."

Gracie picked up the old backpack and handed it to Eleanor. The girl opened it up to find several wrapped portions of food and small amount of cash.

"If you spread it out it should be enough food for a couple days. And don't worry about the money. I was saving it for a rainy day but after seeing you in good health, well let's say that I won't be having rain for a long time."

Eleanor didn't know what to say but she did know what to do. She reached out and hugged Gracie. The old woman returned the hug she thought she would never feel again. The joy of the moment brought tears to her eyes.

"I had promised myself I wouldn't cry. Seems even at my age I still have things to learn."

With all her might Eleanor tried to remember this wonderful person. She knew somewhere deep down that this person was special to her. But as she tore through her mind she felt something pulsating. The pressure became pain, excruciating pain. The sudden sensation almost made her loss consciousness. Gracie felt something was wrong and helped the girl to the bed.

"Baby, honey what's wrong," Gracie stared into Eleanor's eyes. The one thing that stuck out was that her pupils were uneven.

Unable to reply, Eleanor sat shivering on the edge of the bed. Her head felt as if it was going to explode. A second later the pain subsided but now her nose was running. She wiped her nose to find blood covering her fingers.

"Your nose is bleeding," gasped Gracie. "No-no. That good-for-nothing Doc Johnson must of missed something. I'll go get his lazy ass back here but you stay put. Ya hear?"

But before Gracie could hustle out the door Eleanor grabbed her shoulder.

"I remember," exclaimed Eleanor.

"That's fine and all but you need help."

"No," Eleanor replied. She took hold of Gracie's hand and cupped it to her face. "I remember this. I finally remember you Aunt Gracie. And I am not leaving you."

Gracie pulled the girl in and hugged her with all her might. "My sweet Eleanor. That's just fine. We'll go see Doc Johnson together."

The two exited through the door to the apartment together and walked down the flight of stairs of the hotel where Gracie had been staying. At the bottom, a crowd of people waited for their arrival. In the front of the crowd stood Doc Johnson. Gracie rushed forward to meet him.

"Good news everyone, my Eleanor had her memory returned. Oh but doc you need to check her out again. Her nose was bleeding something awful a second ago."

"I'm sorry Gracie," Doc Johnson stated.

"No its okay dear but you need to," Gracie said before Doc Johnson grabbed her wrists.

"No, you don't understand. We are here for Eleanor."

At that moment everybody in the crowd retrieved their concealed weapons and pointed them in Eleanor's direction.

Gracie struggled in Doc Johnson's grasp. "Do you mean to…"

"She's got ADAM, Gracie," the doctor roared. "Her bloods intoxicated with the stuff. It runs rich in her veins. Normally the temptation wouldn't even cross our minds. We're good folk and you know it but… But times are changing. Lamb is falling with nobody to in her stead and a man's got to protect his family as well as himself."

Several heads nodded in unison of their approval. Gracie stood where she was dumbstruck at their audacity. These people were her friends and family. The severe blow felt like a stab in the back.

"If our community is to live to see tomorrow then we need ADAM to survive. Our wives cannot make a home in peace and our children won't grow up in fear. And your Eleanor is the only way we can have a fighting chance. I'm sorry Gracie. I hope someday you forgive me. Eleanor, I haven't known you for a long time but I do know how special you are to Gracie here. If you come quietly I can make it painless but if you resist… well I think you know what will happen. So for Gracie's sake please do the right thing."

"The right thing," fumed Gracie. "You speak of doin the right thing. My baby is sick and you want to finish her off for the greater good? You people make me sick."

Several voices were raised throughout the crowd as it grew agitated. They banged their weapons crying for Eleanor's head while she stood there, at the top of the stairs, steaming herself.

"Let go of my Aunt Gracie," Eleanor screamed. The crowd hushed as the girl's voice screeched throughout the old hotel. "You people are no better than the common splicer!"

"It's for our children," a mother in the crowd cried out. Several heads nodded in agreement.

"It has always been for some virtue that makes the common folk turn to splicing. But it warps their mind and they become addicts to ADAM. Enough isn't enough and people splice more and more. And if you people have fallen this low as to hurt someone as close to you all as my Aunt Gracie, then there is no hope for you."

The crowd fell silent for a brief moment. Then a man stepped forward with a pistol in his hand.

"Miss, my name is Fred Tumble. Now I don't know you and you don't know me but I do know Mrs. Holloway over here. She's a good person and I think you are too but a fact is a fact. We need ADAM to survive this world and you've got it. Now I'm a father of two boys and I'd splice without a doubt if it meant they would live. And may god strike me down if I ever betray them. But if splicing makes me a terrible person," the man sighed as he leveled his pistol on Eleanor. "Then so be it."

As the man pulled the trigger, Gracie tugged out of Doc Johnson's hands and into the path of the bullet. Eleanor screamed as she leapt towards her long lost aunt. The doctor also realized what Gracie was trying to do and tried to pull her back but it was too late.

(Bang)

The hammer struck the casing of the round causing the explosion that sent the bullet speeding towards Gracie. The round pierced just to the left of her sternum and exited from her mid waist. The woman crumpled into Eleanor's arms with Doc Johnson still holding her. As Gracie tried to breath she gasped in agony from the pain of her collapsed lung. Eleanor started wailing out loud. She wished this had never happened. She wished she was somewhere else.

(Poof)

Both Doc Johnson, Aunt Gracie, and Eleanor disappeared into thin air leaving behind only red petals. The crowd stood silent as statues. Everyone wondered where they had gone. Then the man named Fred Tumble dropped the pistol on the floor, the barrel still smoking. He clutched his head and wailed. The disturbing sounds could be heard throughout Pauper's drop.


	4. Unhinged and unfit

With a flurry of red petals to announce their arrival, Eleanor reappeared still upholding Gracie with Doc holding the woman around the waist. Eleanor continued crying almost unaware of her new surroundings. Doc Johnson, meanwhile, and realized they had instantaneously transported to…

"The diner?" In a matter of seconds they had moved at least six hundred feet. The thought astonished him but not as much as the pure dread upon examining Gracie's wounds.

"Eleanor, Eleanor," he shouted. "You have to put her down so I can look at her. Here, rest her up against this wall."

Eleanor slowly propped Gracie against the wall then turned around and slugged the doctor across the face. The man flailed around before hitting the ground. His nose was clearly broken from the impact.

"Don't you touch her! You, you brute!"

At that moment Gracie lifted a weak arm towards her only daughter. "El… Elea-nor," she gasped weakly. The girl rushed to her side and held her already cold hand. Tears streamed down her face. Gracie grimaced with each breath and squeezed the girls hand to comfort her.

"I'm not letting you go," she cried out.

Eleanor placed her hand over the wound to stop the bleeding but it was in vain. Hopelessness ate away at her but she endured it. Eleanor wanted her Aunt Gracie back. She wanted her aunt to be… HEALED.

"That light," Doc Johnson exclaimed standing behind Eleanor. "Your hand!"

Both Eleanor and Gracie looked where the girl's hand lay pressed against the woman's wound. Her hand was indeed glowing. Gracie felt a tingling sensation as her internal injuries became restored. Her breathing still remained in labor but her lung expanded as the hole in her chest cavity slowly closed.

While Doc Johnson stared in awe of Gracie's miraculous recovery he felt something splat against his back. He turned around to see no one there and looked at his back to see red goop filter into his clothes. He felt like laughing… no crying… No he felt angry. Angry that things had gone this way. How dare this floozy girl refuse to save their community. It wasn't their fault Gracie was shot, it was Eleanor's for not coming quietly. But she would pay dearly for this.

Eleanor could not only feel a massive amount of energy leave her body but also the wave of energy emulating from her hand. A second later, Gracie's would stitched itself together and some color returned to her face.

"My sweet, sweet Eleanor, I don't know what- Doc no," Gracie exclaimed as Doc Johnson plunged a little sister's hyper-needle into Eleanor's back.

The hyper-needle began draining ADAM from Eleanor's back at an alarming rate. With red eyes the man harshly yanked the needle from the girls back and quickly drank the crimson liquor. Johnson hardly had the time to wipe his mouth before the affects flung him backwards. Random plasmids began firing off from his hands.

Eleanor mouth remained agape until somebody tapped her shoulder. It was Fred Tumble. The man who only seconds ago had tried to shoot her and almost killed Gracie.

"You!"

The man held up his hands in surrender. "I- I know now we were wrong. I'm here to protect Gracie so you don't have to. Johnson needs your help more than I do."

"You'll protect her," she inquired.

He solemnly nodded.

"I'll hold you to that!"

Swaying to her feet, Eleanor circled around the thrashing Doc while keeping a decent perimeter away from him. Eleanor gritted her teeth as she saw Johnson stand back up. His face had warped beyond recognition but his red eyes remained the same.

"Mister Johnson," Eleanor called out to him while trying to draw his attention away from Aunt Gracie. "Doc Johnson," she repeated waving her hands.

The Doc held up his hand sending a wave of fire in her direction. As the flames approached, Eleanor leaped out of the way but Johnson had teleported to her location and caught her by the neck.

"You called," He replied laughing hysterically.

A second later Eleanor found herself reappearing in market still being chocked by Johnson. He threw her in the corner and laughed again.

"More power," Doc Johnson screamed. His eyes were blood shot and drool slathered from his mouth. "I need more power! You no longer have any say in what belongs to use anymore. I will take it and rule…" The man grabbed his forehead and staggered for a moment. Then his entire left arm lit on fire and he spread flaming barrier around the corner in which Eleanor was trapped.

"N-no not rule, protect. Protect with an iron fist I will. Any that fall out of line will be punished f-for their own goooood." A ball of electricity erupted around the doctor sending all who were present to the ground in spasms.

Eleanor spread her hands out and countered the electrical wave with a smaller version of her own. The waves canceled each other but the result left her feeling drained and for the second time that day she tasted bile mixed with blood. She slumped against the wall and sat there. Her arms felt lifeless but still she struggled. "You are nobodies protector. You are no saint and hardly fit the profile of an antihero. It is too late for that. Look around you."

With his prey within his grasp, Johnson took the liberty to take a look around the market square. The entire mob, which had come to take Eleanor away, now stood around him. Some immediately hid from his gaze while others trained their weapons on what used to be Doc Johnson. He could feel their looks of disgust and rejection puncture his soul. "You all feel… I did this for you all. I did this for you ALL."

A man stepped forward, his gun still pointed at Johnson. "This isn't what we wanted. Now if you calm down we can fix this. You're not well John. Now come on… we're friends right. You're a member of Pauper's Drop."

The fiery embers slowly died on his arm. The seared skin slowly rebuilt itself until his arm was whole again with the exception of several major scars. The man tilted his and muttered something inaudible. "Friend, member of the community? You mean this dump? This hell hole? No, now that I've got power I will caste my lot aside for a better one. The question is: will you get in my way? My old friend."

A blob of fire shot from Johnson's palm and impacted the man's chest sending him flying backward. The angered crowd open fired on the lone splicer who replied with more volleys of incinerate three. It seemed to be a struggled between who could last the longest. At the moment the battle seemed to favor Johnson because the guns didn't seem to affect him while the remainder of the community seemed to drop like flies with their burns. But as Johnson repetitively used the plasmid the charred portions of his skin seemed to enlarge. Instead of breathing air, Johnson now inhaled the fumes his burning remains gave off. Johnson no longer laughed but with each toxic breath he now screamed in pain. His body was burning at a rate his stolen regenerative power could not keep up with. Within moments the fire died leaving a charcoaled, half dead man that writhed on the ground.

A lone woman staggered through the crowd. One hand pressed to her chest for the pain it was giving her and a revolver in the other. Everyone gasped as they followed the sound of footsteps to its source. Gracie, being supported by Fred Tumble, was now fully alive and well.

Cheers erupted briefly then died as they gazed upon her stone cold face. With Fred's help, Gracie slowly plodded to the middle of the scene where Johnson lay sprawled on the street shuddering. What was left of Johnson's eyes turned to see Gracie approached him. He made a plea in the form of a guttural sound but saw no pity in her dark eyes. Gracie Holloway halted a couple feet from Johnson kicking up dust that stung his raw skin. She pointed the revolver at the man's temple.

"Enough is enough."

As Gracie pulled the trigger Johnson's eyes widened. The cylinder rotated until the chamber aligned with the barrel sending the round flying threw Johnson's head killing him.

The somber crowd slowly and quietly dispersed from the scene. Soon the market was all but quiet with a single person wall-crawling on the ceiling. Her hooks clattered against the crumbling surface. She leapt down to the corpse and studied it. She poked it with one of her hooks only to see the ashes collapse into a silhouette pattern.

"Nothing, nothing, nothing, nothing, nothing, nothing, nothing, not a thing, a thing of not, NOTHING," exclaimed Lucy, Johnson's former assistant. "Idiot, moron, bonehead, cretin, dimwit, dork, dumbbell, dunce, IMBECILE," she screamed. "That ADAM was mine. My one chance. That Lamb chick will pay for this."

With that she jumped to the ceiling and clambered away through Pauper's Drop to plan her next strike.

**Author's notes: ****With all the talk-talk-talking that's been going on i felt it was high time for some action. And while this might be too much or too little (lol) i don't care. Its how the story turned out. I actually didn't plan for any of this but it came about on its own. I wish filler was this good.**

**This pretty much wraps up Pauper's drop minus the leaving part. I wanted to use actually areas in the game and found an awesome map that detailed the entire area. i was thinking about arcadia next but i want to use Bioshock 2 areas more. Stay tuned and please leave any nots of praise, concerns, and comments in general. **

**ps sometime i do repeat words or misspell them accidentally and even windows vista won't catch the mistakes so do let me know and i'll get on it.**


	5. Hidden faces part 1

Eleanor tugged and tugged on Mr. Bubble's arm. As the two rounded a corner, Eleanor could feel drops of water falling on her. But the sweet smell of angels Eleanor ignored it while Delta worriedly glanced at the ceiling.

With only a couple more feet to her mark left, Eleanor dropped her daddies hand and ran at a full sprint to the pretty angel. She was prettier than most and her dress made Eleanor jealous but Eleanor's big daddy was the best so she did not have to worry.

The sounds of a hyper-syringe plunging into flesh echoed throughout the seemingly forgotten hallway. Eleanor thought to herself how she was a good girl when slowpoke Delta finally arrived. Eleanor had just finished the angel and proceeded to drink the elixir from the back end of the syringe. As Eleanor drank, Delta thoughtfully stared at his charge which caused Eleanor to giggle and almost choke. She finished shortly after and wiped the crimson liquid from her tiny mouth.

Eleanor thought she had found the angel she had smelled but she realized that there was another one. The aroma was almost intoxicating. It wafted through her nose like liquid honey.

"More angels Daddy," Eleanor exclaimed. Then with a skip in her step, she ran with glee towards her next angel. The funny door in front of her immediately opened allowing her admittance. In a small gesture of appreciation, she nodded towards the funny door as she passed into a word filled with light.

The light grew dimmer and started to blink. Eleanor opened a lazy eye to see a light blinking on the control panel next to the door leading to the conductor's cabin. The light was labeled 'Destination Proximity Alert'. She stared at Fred Tumble who sat on the bench that lined the opposing end of the submersible tram car. The cap he always wore lay on his lap and his eyes seemed fixed on the ocean floor. His eyes followed a brightly painted fish that swam around the back of the tram until his eyes met Eleanor's eyes.

"Something on my face," he asked.

Eleanor blushed in her embarrassment. "No it's not that. I just find it interesting how you stay transfixed looking out the window. I mean, we do live underwater where such creature's and wonders pass our world every day."

"Not so much in Pauper's Drop. Hardly any windows to speak of in the first place and not much reason to leave unless you're looking to get yourself killed… or find someone," Fred replied tacking on that last part for good measure. "I bet someone like you has seen it all though. Must have seen all of Rapture by now being Lamb's daughter."

"Not really. Well maybe I have but I," Eleanor started before becoming lost in thought.

"What, you don't remember? Didn't Miss Gracie say that you'd regained your memories?"

"Well yes… and no," Sighed Eleanor. "I remember my life as a child. And then when my mother was taken I remember the wonderful times I spent with Aunt Gracie. But then, but then… I do not remember any more."

"I remember it. She said you had vanished. I don't think you left but something happened and she concluded someone had stolen you. And then there was that incident…"

"Yes?"

Fred suppressed a look of worry by slouching against the wall and putting his cap over his eyes.

"Well," said Eleanor pushing the topic.

"Just a rumor but anyway we're almost to Arcadia and I want to get a little rest before we get off."

Eleanor folded her arms and grumbled under her breath. Secrets, she hated them. When she was still with her mother, Sofia never told her what she was doing. Never took her along but left her in the care of somebody else while she worked. Gracie wasn't so bad but that prude of a teacher before her was awful.

Her thoughts turned towards her current situation and she was glad she had company traveling with her though she was surprised when Fred had approached her with the notion of coming along. It had been two day since the fight and so her immediate response was to say no but Gracie had all but forced her acceptance. Eleanor had found out a bit afterward that Aunt Gracie had forced him to go protect her 'baby' or else she would never forgive him. Before they had left, Fred had to stop and say goodbye to his boys who Gracie was going to watch while Fred was away. The first son had raven hair like Eleanor's and a cute smile while the younger son had blond hair and did not speak much. Their mother had tragically died by a splicer's hands.

The culprit was no more but Fred did admit he still had trouble filling his wife's shoes. As they left the apartment, Fred ruffled his son's hair and told them to be good while Gracie hugged Eleanor goodbye as she held back the tears. A couple friends of Gracie's saw to the submersible tram car and Fred and Eleanor departed for Arcadia.

In the remaining ride, Eleanor's thoughts recounted in such a manner until the tram car came to a halt. The sealed doors hissed open and the sweet, fresh air perforated the car. Fred fixed his cap and straightened his shirt before exiting the car.

"The trees," Eleanor gasped. She did not know if she had been in Arcadia before but it was like she had stepped into the Garden of Eden.

"I've heard stories about this place but never- never actually got the chance to come see it for myself," replied Fred scratching his chin-stache. "But enough sightseeing, Gracie said we were to meet some fellow named Stanley… Stanley-."

"Stanley Poole?"

"Yea that's the one. Do you know him?"

Eleanor stopped and mused for a moment. "No I don' but his name is familiar for some reason."

"Hmm well let's find our man seeing how he isn't here."

Eleanor nodded in agreement and they began making their way through Arcadia. Throughout their walk Fred kept commenting about how wonderful Arcadia was and how he sorely wanted his son's to see all the trees. His first was born on the way when Fred decided with his late wife to move to Rapture while his second had been born nine months later.

One of the trees they passed by had black velvety leaves and Eleanor had picked one. She rubbed the leaf between her small fingers then pressed it up against her face. But the moment she did a terrible laughter could be heard down the hallway around the far corner.

Fred quickly pulled out his revolver and looked for the source. The hallway remained silent, too silent that is until they turned around to see somebody running towards them from the opposite side of the hallway. Eleanor readied herself while Fred steadied his weapon but dropped it when he saw the runner's face.

"Run, run away! They are coming," the man screamed as he approached the two.

** Author's notes: I try to use various parts of Rapture in my stories. Seriously let me know if you remember them. It means I'm doing it right. Anywho surprise character in next chapter. Any guesses before reading it?**


	6. Hidden faces part 2

"Run, run away! They are coming," the man screamed as he approached the two.

Eleanor glanced past the man and saw no one. "Who coming?"

But just as he was about to reach them, the man vanished into a pile of black leaves very much similar to the one Eleanor had picked a moment ago. She jumped in fright when the laughter continued but this time very close.

"Damn Houdini's," cursed Fred. "Eleanor we need to move. It's too open here and we'll get slaughtered if we fight the Houdini here."

"What are Houdinies? Some kind of splicer?"

"Yea and the hard to find and kill kind too. Get behind me and watch behind us."

"How do you know so much about their kind."

Fred could feel his anger rising but he quickly suppressed it. "Because they're the one that killed, that took my wife from me."

Eleanor turned around and grabbed Fred's shoulder. He paused for a moment and looked at her. "I know you didn't know about that. I made peace with her death a long time ago but we- DUCK."

Fred grabbed Eleanor's head right before an orb of fire surged over them.

"Sorry about that."

Eleanor shrugged keeping her eyes on their surroundings.

"Eleanor, listen, we need to find a wall to put our backs to. It's the only way to fight them."

"Right. Following you."

As they quickened their pace the laughter continued on both sides. One of the voices Eleanor could swear was a woman's laughter but she felt too scared to figure it out. They walked down the hallway and through another until they came to some stairs. Fred opted to see where they lead and Eleanor agreed.

At the bottom of the stairs they rounded a corner to find themselves ankle-deep in water.

"Tch, wrong turn," Fred scolded himself.

Eleanor looked around the small, flooded corner of, what she thought to be the basement and found letters glowing on a foliage covered wall. In disregard towards Fred's admonishment, she uncovered the symbols and read the jumbled name.

"Saternine?"

More laughter continued to echo throughout the basement. It seemed as if they were surrounded.

"Eleanor this place is no good. Let's go somewhere else."

She turned around and grabbed his wrist. "No this place is perfect. We'll be able to see their footsteps in the water."

Fred face looked of surprise. He did not expect the girl to be this cunning. "Fine, we'll do it your way. But still back to back, agreed?"

"Yes."

The laughter filled the room with a sense of dread but the silence that followed with even scarier still. Suddenly two sets of footsteps raced through the water and back out. Fred fired towards one and missed while Eleanor shot a bolt of electricity.

"Woah Eleanor, careful you don't fry us in the water. Wait a minute that's it." Fred whispered something into her ear and they both slowly made their way onto a table that lay against the wall.

"Ready," Eleanor whispered.

"I am."

"Hah, those Houdinies are not as scary as I first thought," Eleanor taunted.

"I know right. They can't hide in water at all. Just a couple idiots who can't swim. What? No laughter? Cat hid your tongues?"

Eleanor began giggling at that last one until the water began splashing around.

"Eleanor now," shouted Fred.

Eleanor spread her fingers and watched the current twitching between them leap to the surrounding water. The electricity jumped from particle to particle in the water until it found it mark. The man they had previously seen now thrashed as the current fried his body. Fred pointed his weapon and pumped the man with three shots for good measure. The current finally died down and took the Houdini with it. The atmosphere regained its popular mood of pure silence.

Fred got off the table and began searching the man.

"What are you looking for?"

"Mostly money. Houdini splicers always seem to have a lot of it. And jackpot!"

"What about the other one," Eleanor asked again. It was not that she did not want to move, it is that she was afraid to move from their safe location.

"I think we just killed her mate but I don't think we'll see er won't see any more of her today. Anyway I think we should call it a day for the moment."

Eleanor thought about what he said. "I am hungry," she stated.

"It's decided. We'll find a spot and eat. Then take turns to rest."

"Ladies first?"

Fred chuckled. "I don't think your aunt could truly forgive me if I didn't."

A couple minutes later they found a spot hidden under a huge set of stairs and ate a small meal. Eleanor yawned and stretched like a cat then laid her head on her backpack. She did not know how long she had been dosing but it seemed like seconds because a moment because Fred began poking her shoulder. When she tried to yawn he clasped his hand on her mouth and motioned for her to be silent.

There appeared to be a man walking through the area. The man had slicked unkempt hair and a dirty tan shirt. He held a small rifle that pointed everywhere the nervous man thought someone might be hiding.

"Do you think that's him," whispered Eleanor.

"One way to find out."

Fred carefully exposed his head and stood up. "Hey mister," he called out.

(Bang)

The round shot wide and missed Fred by ten feet. Fred, meanwhile, motioned his hands over his head. "I'm not armed. I just want to know who you are."

The man half bearded face studied Fred then kept looking around. "You first."

"I'm Fred Tumble. You?"

"I'm Stanley Poole. I'm here looking for Eleanor Lamb."

Eleanor got out from underneath the stairs. Stanley's eyes lit up instantaneously. "Hey, long time no see. I didn't know if I was going to meet you guys or not but since your father gave me a second chance I thought why not. You've really grown up Eleanor. I-I…"

Stanley ran up to Eleanor and got on his knees. He clasped her hand and began crying. "I'm sorry," he cried out. "I'm so sorry for what I did to you. Can you find it in your heart to forgive me?"

Eleanor stared at the man incredulously. "What did you do to me?"

**Author's Notes: Anybody remember Stanley Poole. He's the $%^& bag that probably everybody playing the game took a spear to. Initaily i did to but not before saving. He wasn't worth killing... Not enough money on him. lol**


	7. Denied secrets

Eleanor stared at the man incredulously. "What did you do to me?"

Stanley looked at the girl. At one time he had wished none of his terrible deeds had never happened. It almost seemed as if his wish had come true but he knew better.

"You-you don't remember?"

Before Eleanor could reply Fred jumped in between them.

"Her memory has been an issue lately but we're trying not to rush her. It's been bad for her health."

Stanley looked in disbelief. "You're saying you don't remember what I have done. I, took you away from Gracie Holloway and-"

(POW)

Stanley flew backwards from the right hook that rippled across his face. Fred retracted his fist and pointed at the man.

"You're the bastard that took Eleanor away. I'm gonna break your skull in two."

As Stanley struggled to stand Fred ran up and picked him up by his collar and propped him up on a wall.

"I sorry for what I did please don't hurt me," pleaded Stanley.

"I don't care about that," Fred whispered. "Just don't mention a-n-y-t-h-i-n-g about her becoming a little sister."

"But why?"

Fred tightened his grip on Stanley's collar constricting his throat. He wasn't going to kill the man but he needed to make sure Eleanor didn't know until she was ready. Gracie put the girl in his protection and he was going to deliver Eleanor in one piece in body and mind.

"Let him go, let him go," Eleanor pleaded gripping Fred's arm. "He said he sorry. You're sorry right?"

Stanley franticly looked at Fred then Eleanor. "I- I'm sorry," he yelled.

Eleanor stared glaringly at Fred who likewise stared Stanley. Stanley saw not the will to kill but of determination in Fred's eyes. He slowly nodded his head and was promptly put down.

"Hmpth, lowlife's not worth my time," Fred scoffed walking to his bed and lay down. "Eleanor, I'm still tired from our run in earlier and it's your turn. Let me know if something happens."

Stanley collapsed against the wall and rubbed his neck. It seemed to him that he still had to make up for his past even if it meant… He shuddered.

"Mr. Stanley? You can rest underneath the stairs if you want. It is safer than out in the open," she said factually.

"You trust me?"

"If Fred trusts you then I trust you."

Stanley ruffled his eye brows. "He trusts me?"

"He would not have fallen asleep if he did not trust you or he thought I could handle myself. No offense Mr. Stanley but I could kick your butt… if I needed to." Eleanor walked a little ways off to check the area and left Stanley in a stupor.

Fred opened a lazy eye peering through the broad steps of the staircase. He felt content with the situation and slowly let sleep overtake him.

"They trust me," Stanley said with shock. "But they shouldn't. After all I've done I don't deserve this."  
A few hours later Fred rustled from his sleep. The first thing he noticed was that it was very quiet and something was amiss: specifically Eleanor's pack as well as herself and Stanley. He growled in frustration. In a moment's notice he was dressed and packed. Fred took out his revolver and pressed the release. The cylinder popped out and he threw out the spent shells and replaced them.

Fred crept through the corridors of Arcadia. He heard foots and he rushed through the doorway. His sights aligned with a little sister sitting in front of a Rosie. The girl smiled and waved at him while she repeatedly punctured the corpse in front of her. Fred inched his trembling finger away from the trigger and breathed heavily. As Fred backed away slowly his back touched a door. The door immediately opened behind Fred causing him to fall.

"Oh it's just you."

Fred's eyes stopped spinning and he saw he had found his quarry. Stanley stood there leaning against a wall. He was wringing his hands and he looked nervous. Fred got to his feet and ran at the Stanley who crumpled to the ground with his sweaty hands protecting his head.

"Where's Eleanor," Fred seethed pointing his revolver at Stanley's head.

Stanley pointed to the stairs behind him with a shaky hand.

Fred knocked the man onto his side and shoved his head into the sparse grass. "What did you do to her?"

"I did n-nothing," he stammered.

Fred peered hard at Stanley as if trying to read his mind but Stanley just lay on the ground quivering. "Eleanor," Fred bellowed toward the staircase.

"Ah, you are awake," Eleanor yelled back. "I'll be done soon. Be up in a moment."

Stanley felt a small portion of relief when Fred let go of him and let him sit up. He felt bewildered for his mistreatment but endured it.

Fred felt apologetic. "I thought the worse when I woke up to find both of you missing. I am sorry chum. What is she doing down there anyway?"

"She's um, you see she… She's taking a bath."

As fast as you could wink Fred retrieved his revolver and aimed for Stanley's groin instead of his head. "You've got five seconds to explain peeping tom."

"She-She found a waterfall surrounded by gigantic roses and wanted to take a bath. She took me along and told me to keep watch while she… you know, bathed. She didn't want to bother you while you slept."

"And you HAVEN'T looked, at all?"

Stanley began running his finger around the grass and then ruffled the back of his hair. "Miss Lamb told me exactly what she would do to me if she thought I was 'peeping' in on her. She gets her demeanor from her mother but I can't believe her vocabulary. What about you? You walked in here looking like you had seen a ghost."

Fred felt the tension dissipate within his muscles. He took the butt of his weapon and scratched an itch in the fold of his back. He had been ignoring the itch since he had woken up to find everybody missing. He chuckled under his breath. This babysitting business was giving him gray hairs he thought.

"The ghost was almost my own," Fred replied leaning against a timber. "Nearly pissed off a big daddy by harming his little sister."

"You don't say. I actually did that once."

Fred really did not know Stanley that much but it sounded as if he was telling the truth. "And you survived?"

"Yep, The Big Daddy had me at gun point but he let me go. Saw fit to steal forty-two dollars from me though."

"Then what happened?"

"Don't know what happened to Delta but the little sister grew up and is currently taking a bath down there."

Fred looked thought about the man's actions and his redemptive actions small as they may be. He was going to have to treat the man with a little more respect now that he knew.

Stanley began picking the grass around him in boredom. "Say, why didn't you want me to tell Ms. Lamb about her… past life?"

**Author's notes: The whole scuffle with Fred and Stanley left me with a bad taste. I wanted to do so much, say so much, torture so much but you can only stall for so much time. I was origonally going to have Fred give a whole "don't say stuff" speach but then realized that 30 min. ago Eleanor would have walked up and begun to nose around. So I saved it for later and it worked out so i'm happy. Hope you are too. **


	8. New friends old enemies

Stanley began picking the grass around him in boredom. "Say, why didn't you want me to tell Ms. Lamb about her… past life?"

Fred's face became serious. He reached out and fixed Stanley's soiled collar.

"I wasn't going to hurt you. I just wanted to talk to you without giving Eleanor any suspicion. She's lost parts of her memory and is slowly regaining them. She doesn't remember being a little sister and I figure it should stay that way. At least I do know that neither of us is qualified to tell her."

"She doesn't remember a thing," Stanley contemplated. "I did some… I left her to become."

"And she doesn't need to remember that right now. Something's not right with her and until she has her answers I don't want to make it worse. But right now we need to put on an act for her. So not a wor-"

"Aaaaaaiieeeee!"

Both Stanley and Fred jumped at the sound of Eleanor screaming. They began rushing towards the stairs.

"Eleanor, are you alright," shouted Fred.

"Nooooo, no don't come down ju- just yet."

To Fred, Eleanor's sounded like she was in pain and her breath was labored. Never the less he halted at the entrance to the stairs leading below and held out a hand to stop Stanley.

"It is okay now. You can come. But don't you dare try anything."

The two men almost flew down the stairs to find Eleanor standing in the water with nothing but a brown towel to protect her dignity. Their eyes were torn from the extraordinary view by the site of the water around Eleanor's foot turning murky red.

"Aagh! Are you two going to stop gawking and rescue me?"

Stanley's eyes grew large and he extended a finger towards Eleanor. "But aren't you um spotting?"

Fred's mouth dropped open but he quickly regained composure. "If that's the case Eleanor, I'm not sure how we can… well, help."

Eleanor's face went red from embarrassment to anger. "Spotting? My body is leaking blood like a small fountain and you think I'm spotting. Did any other woman in your life spot like this," she yelled.

Both men looked at each other and scratched their heads.

"Eleanor it's not a common thing for men to witness." Fred began. "They get very cranky but it's normal to be like that. It's just a process er- part of becoming a fine woman. And you'll-"

"For the last bloomin time, it is not, uurrg," Eleanor replied grasping her leg in pain. "It is not my- my thing. See these roses. They have thorns you know. And I went and stepped on one. It went through my foot and I can't get free. It hurts," she whimpered in despair.

No sooner had she finished her rant when two pairs of strong arms held her up. Stanley proceeded to grab Eleanor around her waist and slowly lift while Fred knelt in the water and gently found where the thorn had pierced threw her foot.

Even though she was grateful for their help, Eleanor could not help but feel very exposed between the two of them. "If you dare look up Fred Tumble," she admonished.

Fred waved her fear away and handed her his revolver. "This is going to be painful. Put the wooden part of the handle in your mouth."

Eleanor took the weapon and stared at the handle. The wood already had two rows of teeth imprinted in its grain. She shrugged it off and put the handle in her mouth bracing herself for the worst.

"On my count," Fred commanded.

"Three, two, one, PULL!"

Stanley lifted Eleanor's surprisingly light body up while Fred lifted her foot around the thorn. They could hear Eleanor's muffled screams as she bit down but it was over in a moment's notice. Stanley gently put Eleanor down and helped her hobble to the stairs to sit down. All three people stared at the wound as it stitched itself back together.

"I can't believe you guys thought I was on my {.}," Said Eleanor as she playfully badgered the two men. Now fully dressed, they were heading down to the bathysphere. Fred had wished for Eleanor to rest a little bit after the incident but she pressed them to leave. She wanted answers, all of them. But as they approached the station for the bathysphere they found the door to the submarine blocked off by tons of-

"Trap darts," Fred exclaimed.

Stanley threw up his hands. "But what are they doing here? They weren't here when I arrived."

Eleanor stared at the millions of trap darts arching electricity across the entire room. She thought to herself how she, had at one time, spent all her trap darts in one go in order to stave off Sander Cohen's subordinates from killing her only to find that the game did not allow for that many traps and had erased most of them. She was thinking about how to break through when she heard a whistling sound. Her hand jutted out in front of Fred's chest and caught a red-hot dart using telekinesis.

A Houdini grasping a dart gun appeared on the gangplank leading into the Bathysphere. "This is as far as you go. For the sins of killing my love you must die. Fear the saturnine lowlifes."

The woman fired two darts that went high and wide. She disappeared with a 'poof'. Then two male Houdinis appeared and shot bolts of fire toward the three who scattered. Eleanor stayed on the defense catching the burning spheres, Fred shot in vain because there were too many, and Stanley huddled in the corner firing his weapon in the general area.

Fred walked over to Stanley and smacked him. "Don't hit the bathysphere. It doesn't react well to bullets."

"Yea well neither do I," moaned Stanley.

"You guys," yelled Eleanor as she fired back and dodged a dart. "I can't handle this many people."

The female Houdini appeared right in front of them with dart gun in hand. "You shall di-"

The sudden pounding of heavy footsteps resounded on the wooden floorboards. A Rosie appeared waltzing through the scene towards the hidey-hole on the side of the wall. The repetitive pounding echoed throughout the room as he called for his charge.

"You shall, you shall die," the woman declared again.

"I don't think so," a voice whispered.

(Sheink)

The female Houdini turned around to see a spider-splicer pulling her hooks out of her two companion's heads. Blood driveled out of their mouths and they fell dead in sync.

Stanley was the first to react and lost his lunch while Fred and Eleanor looked on in dread.

"You, you, you dare," the Houdini splicer stuttered. A ball of fire formed in her hand but before she could release it she felt pain in her torso. She looked down to see a hook with an arm attached sink into her abdomen. The spider-splicer took her other hook and also stabbed the other splicer keeping both hooks embedded.

"Me, me, me," the spider-splicer mocked.

The Houdini evaporated into thin air but the spider-splicer remained still.

"Your tricks won't work on me pitiful Houdini."

A second later the Houdini reappeared where she had been standing with the hooks still inside her. She gasped for air and vomited blood. Seeing her defeat, the Houdini wiped the blood from her mouth. "Long live the Saterni-"

Right before the Houdini could finish, the spider-splicer ripped her hooks apart causing the other woman's intestines and fluids to gush out. Death came before the corpse hit the floor.

All who remained alive stared at the bloodied spider-splicer while the big daddy remained where he was still knocking on the metal hole.

The woman wiped the blood from her face and smiled devilishly. "Hi Eleanor, I see you've made more friends. And you Fred, you seem to be enjoying her company. Really cute… really sickening!"

Fred stared at the woman. The face was as similar as the voice but in a really twisted way.

"Lucy Evansfield?"

**Author's notes: I decided to give Lucy a last name and created one up on the spot. For those of you who don't remember her, she was the assistant to the poor dead Doc Johnson. She is also the dark character seen looming over the dead doctor's body. I'm no M. Night (HE SCREWED UP AVATAR THE LAST AIRBENDER) but i love a good twist. Hope this one keeps you hungry. Oh and how was the short fight scene. At some point Stanley will grow a pare but i didn't want to make him a sudden hero. At the moment he's just a tepid guy who wants to do the right thing but lacks a pair.**


	9. True lies Part 1

"Lucy Evansfield?" Fred took two steps toward her then paused. Something did not seem right. Lucy was supposed to back in Pauper's Drop but she followed them here. "Why did you follow us? Why are you a spider-splicer?"

Lucy turned her back to the group and looked like she was pouting. "But Mr. Tumble," she said cutely tilting her head sideways. "I've always been a spider-splicer." Lucy's face turned haughty with a cruel smile upon her lips. "Turns out plasmids run in the family. My mother was a spider-splicer too, may she rot in hell."

Fred looked at Eleanor with a worried expression while Stanley let the grownups talk.

"But what about the clinic? Since the doctor-"

"What of the clinic," spat Lucy. "The only reason I decided to help the fool was because I knew my way around a body especially a corpse. And now I'm here for yours, Eleanor." Lucy rubbed her hooks together sending sparks flying about.

Eleanor licked her lips. Her eyes trained on Lucy's movements. Something must have happened to her. "But why do you want me?"

Lucy chuckled at Eleanor naive question. "For the same reason I made Johnson attack you. To get your ADAM!" Lucy hurled herself toward Eleanor. Eleanor dodged backward but the attack was so close that a couple strands of her hair fell to the ground.

"You turned doc into a monster?" Fred pointed his revolver and pointed it at Lucy's forehead. "Give me one good reason I shouldn't blow your brains out."

Lucy smiled then hooked Fred's forearm and stabbed his shoulder. Fred reeled in pain as Lucy's hooks cut his arm and shoulder. He dropped his weapon and fell backward.

"Yes, I plead guilty. I persuaded the good doctor to rally the troops. I gave him the little sister syringe and forced him to stab you, Eleanor. All it took was a ball of pure rage. Of course the idiot had to use it on himself but I returned the favor by dancing on his ashes."

"You bitch," Fred cried out in pain. "Because of you I almost killed Gracie."

As Fred struggled to retrieve his gun Lucy walked beside him and kicked it away. "No big boy, that was all you. I only manipulated you people and it-was-easy."

Lucy reached back to gut the man but flipped backward to avoid a boulder thrown at her.

"Yes. The power you contain is immense and I want it," Lucy said laughing at Eleanor.

Eleanor heaved from the drain of using telekinesis to hurl the boulder. She took a huge breath and hurled electricity at Lucy who evaded with ease. Lucy then threw one of her hooks at Eleanor.

Eleanor tried to catch the hook with telekinesis but missed and grabbed a wooden crate instead. She tried to dodge the hook but she could not release the crate midair or it would smash into her. As her last resort she held out her hand and let the sharp hook sink into it. Eleanor's searing pain turned to anger as she hurled the wooden box at Lucy.

Eleanor gasped in pain as she tried pulling out the hook. She heard a loud noise above her and saw that Lucy had smashed through the box Eleanor had thrown and now was only an impact collision with herself. The pain in her hand caused Eleanor to falter.

Seeing that Eleanor was in trouble, Stanley raised his gun and closed his eyes. He fired three shots hit the spider splicer with one of the three rounds. Lucy crumpled to the ground and grabbed her side in agony. The bullet had penetrated her left side. The bullet wound was a bit more than a graze but it still hurt. Lucy threw her hook at Stanley's head.

(Bang)

The hook aimed at Stanley's head suddenly changed trajectory and sunk into the wall one foot from his head. The man dropped his gun and sunk to the ground. He had seen his life flash before his eyes and found it pretty dull and despicable.

Fred lowered his revolver and sighed in relief. He walked beside Eleanor and gave her a nod. His arm was fitted with a makeshift sling but he still felt confident and pointed his weapon at Lucy.

"It's over Lucy. No more of your schemes. No more of your games. Will you let us pass or will I have another splicer's death on my hands."

Lucy growled then grimaced from the pain her side was radiating. Her lips pursed together then broke out in a horrible smile. "Another splicer's death on your hands? Are you talking about Claire? The Houdini splicer you knocked up while your wife was pregnant."

Fred's face turned white and his hand shook with unresolved. "How-how did you know about that?"

"I've known about it all along," Lucy scoffed. "You see that Houdini splicer and I were friends… well until she hooked up with you."

"I had known she was a houdinin but you two were friends?"

"More like colleagues or mutual accomplices. We were practically draining Pauper's Drop of anything valuable. Remember Mrs. Cuthbert's stolen brooch? That was Claire's doing. But then she felt the need to get off the high road and onto her high horse."

The big daddy that had been pounding on the metal hole gave up in boredom and began walking back. The big daddy growled when neither Fred nor Eleanor moved out of his way. Eleanor quickly recovered and tugged Fred out of the way. She wanted to get him to run away but he refused to budge.

"Your saying she-"

Lucy's began pouting and tears spilled from her cheeks. "She left me," she interrupted. But then her face returned to normal and she rubbed her temples. "Well, left me and a life of easy crime. But then she had to fall in bed with you, literally." Lucy then took her hooks and scratched them against the glass porthole to the bathysphere. The noise caused everybody to cover their ears and even the big daddy turned around and took a couple steps in the direction of the noise.

"It wasn't that she had fallen in love that made me angry. Noooo, what made me mad was that she thought the life we were living was trash when compared to falling in love with lowlifes like you. So I decided to let her have her love and then rip it from her heart. I waited for the little bastard to pop out."

"You mean Jonathan. You mean you waited for Jonathan to be born. But then why did she go and kill my wife? If she was so freaking happy why did she kill my wife!"

Lucy crossed her arms and laughed. Her laughter bellowed into Fred's ears and haunted the shame he hid in his soul.

"I killed her, you simpleton. Your wife died by my hands. I used the incinerate plasmid so it would appear to be Claire's doing. I even made sure your wife's burns would let her live long enough for you to arrive. I took her love from her. I took you from her. Did you ever stop to think how easy it was to capture her? It was because she was already dead inside from losing you!"

Lucy's intolerable laugh began again. "And all you have left is the constant reminder of your guilt shown through your bastard son's eyes. Have you told him yet? Maybe next time I see him I'll let him know the truth hmmm."

"That is enough," yelled Eleanor.


	10. True lies part 2

"That is enough," yelled Eleanor. She created a huge ball of fire and chucked it at Lucy who playfully dodged it by a paper's width. A few hairs got singed but Lucy did not take notice. Eleanor felt drained by the attack and wiped her nose to find blood.

Fred shivered with rage, anger, and pure dread. He had killed his Claire. Not by killing her but by abandoning her heart.

His revolver now remained steady aiming at the spider splicer. Fred was going to end her life. He squeezed the trigger but barrel didn't move because Eleanor was holding it. He glared at her.

"Why are you getting in my way?"

"This is wrong," Eleanor stated. "Killing in defense is one thing but this kind of killing won't help. I don't know why but it just won't."

Stanley, how had been watching the entire scene from his corner, knew the reason Eleanor felt this. It was the same choice her father, Delta, had taken. Even though she did not remember her father his will still acted as a conscious to her. Stanley felt he had to do something so neither of them would get hurt. He spied the dart gun the female Houdini splicer was carrying. He quietly creped to where it lay and picked it up. All the steel darts were used up but there were still a couple trap darts left. He suddenly thought of an idea and knew what he had to do.

"I don't care. That whore has done enough already to die a thousand times."

Lucy waved a finger in Fred's direction. "What are you going to do big boy? You can't hurt me."

"No! But I can," Stanley yelled. He fired two bolts that struck Lucy in the shoulder and chest.

Lucy grimaced in pain. "You'll pay for that you bastard."

"Maybe I will but not now," replied Stanley dodging out of the way.

The bolts implanted on her chest shot hooks out the other end. The wire stretched across the room and out the entrance seeking something solid. The moment they did Lucy shook as the electricity surged through the wires. She seethed in anger. She wanted to scream, to yell, to murder, to-

"Roooooaaaaar," bellowed the big daddy down the hallway. He had been slowly clomping away when two hooks had pierced his butt and electrocuted him. He was angry. He grabbed the two dead wires and tugged on them. On the other end, Lucy fell forward as the big daddy pulled. She got to her feet only to be rammed by the stampeding Rosie. Lucy coughed up blood and spit out a tooth. She would have to kill them later or be killed by the enraged big daddy.

"I will kill you in your sleep," Lucy screamed as she ran down the hallways of Arcadia, dodging the Rosie's attacks.

Stanley dropped the bolt gun and sighed relief. The next thing he knew, Eleanor was hugging him.

"That was pure brilliance," she exclaimed.

"It was really only a fluke," he replied blushing. "I thought the shock would kill her."

While Eleanor was praising Stanley, Fred walked towards them. His fist curled back and swung at Stanley who flinched. The fist was caught by Eleanor who frowned upon him.

"You stole my chance to end that whore's life," shouted Fred.

"I couldn't- I could not let you do that." Stanley held up his arms expecting another blow. "This kind of killing only leads to more killing. Just think of your kid!"

Fred rushed Stanley but Eleanor got between them adamant about not letting the fight start. Fred threw up his hands in defeat then pointed at Stanley. "Don't you dare talk about my child." Fred then jutted his thumb into his chest. "I love him. Something a scumbag like you wouldn't understand."

Stanley wiped his runny nose. His nose always ran when he was frightened. He knew the Fred was hurt so he did not take those words personally. "It's true, I used to be a scumbag but no more. And as for love… no I am ashamed to say I have never felt it. But when I see how Eleanor looks up to you and how fiercely loyal you are to her I think I see it."

Eleanor felt a tear roll down her face. Half of her pitied the man while the other realized the truth in his words. Fred had become a sort of father to her if not a friend she could look up to. She silently prayed his words would reach Fred.

"And if you had killed that spider-splicer just now," Stanley continued, "I get the feeling you would have killed a part of yourself that you didn't want to face. And it would have affected your relationship with Eleanor and your child. You can't just run away. I did that once but it didn't work out like I planned. But Del- someone gave me a second chance to correct my wrongs. You can't bury the past."

As Stanley finished his speech the room grew silent except for the bathysphere that rocked in the water. Eleanor saw this as an indication and clapped her hands together.

"I thinks it is time to leave then. Shall we? Where's are next destination Stanley"

Stanley came out of his trance and shook his head. "It's uh, it's Siren's alley then to Fontaine's Futuristics."

"Why can't we just take the bathysphere to Fontaine's Futuristics?"

"Ah, well you see a the bathysphere's can't go there but we can take the submergible tram car that will take us straight there. Just a layover really."

Eleanor shrugged and followed Stanley with Fred trudging behind them. She sighed in relief when the door closed and the bathysphere began sinking. But as she lay on her seat Eleanor tasted iron in her mouth and put a finger in her mouth. When she took it out she saw it covered in saliva and a little blood. It seemed that not all her worries were over. If only she could get her answers sooner.

**Author's Notes: I hope no one feels that there as too much dialogue in this one. A lot of plot points and character growth came out. And LUCY SHALL RETURN. Oh and i always wondered if you could actually shoot a splicer with a trap bolt in such a way where the wire hits a big daddy causing the guy to kill the splicer. That would be awesome.**


	11. Marks of the past

Eleanor's eyes adjusted to the light of the room. She viewed beautifully dressed people dancing in circles. She passed a man who jumped in surprise then waved to her with a smile. She followed her nose out of the nice-looking room and down another corridor.

"The angel smells so pretty," she commented.

But this angel smelled different. It was the most potent angel she had ever smelled. By this point, Eleanor could almost taste the sweet nectar on her lips. The aroma drifted down the staircase to her right and she practically flew down the steps to the lower level. Surely this angel would supply her big daddy with enough ADAM so the mean men would give him a vacation. She worried about him all the time. He was getting slower, lazier and it scared her. But then she reminded herself that she was a good girl and good girls gather ADAM.

At the bottom of the stairs three wonderful people met up with her. They were laughing in merriment as she approached. One of the woman bent down and held out her hand. Normally, because she was a good girl, Eleanor did not bother with strangers but this group seem to radiate with the smell of ADAM and she felt herself intoxicated- no enchanted.

The woman grasped Eleanor's little hand and smiled warmly. "We've been looking for you. Come away with us, little Eleanor."

Eleanor hesitated and looked behind her wondering where Bubbles had gotten off to. Her hand began to hurt as the woman began to squeeze it. She stared at the woman's features and watched the bags under her eyes stretch and the woman's face drooped.

The little sister trembled as the people around her grew more and more grotesque looking. "You- your faces are melting."

The splicer gave up the charade and tugged on Eleanor's arm dragging her away. "Come with me you little brat!"

Eleanor awoke as someone kept tugging on her arm. Her eyes snapped open to reveal a pale and sweaty Stanley desperately trying to wake her.

He wrung his sweaty palms together. "Eleanor, we've got trouble!"

Fred turned from the panel he was working on and pinned Stanley to the wall. "Didn't I tell you not to wake her?"

"But she needs to know. We could dro-"

"You think I don't know that. Three people starring at a panel is worse than two."

Eleanor looked around the bathysphere and rubbed her eyes. She lazily got up and peered out the porthole. "What is the matter guys. Are we at Siren's Alley yet?"

A body suddenly bounced off the glass causing Eleanor to jump. The dust outside the submarine finally settled and all inside could behold a flooded ghost city. Siren's Alley had been reclaimed by the oceanic water's it had once prohibited. Bodies of splicers now made their way through the streets at the currents mercy. Fish swam where people had once walked and sharks dined where people once ate.

Eleanor gasped at the site so terrible and yet so tranquil. "What happened?"

"Pumps broke, broken main, or somebody simply forgot to close the door on their way out, take your pick," answered Fred.

Stanley thought none of this was humorous. In fact he was feeling a little claustrophobic. "But we're stuck and with no way out."

Eleanor looked at Stanley's face and copied his terror. "We are stuck? How are we stuck."

Fred shook his head and shot daggers at Stanley who shrank back to his seat. "We're not stuck… it's just that we can't go anywhere."

"We're trapped," Stanley cried out in despair.

"Shut up! We're not trapped or stuck. We're just in a little pickle and I'm working on it. Okay?"

Eleanor shook her head and curled her hands into fists. "No it is not okay. If I am going to die I at least want a good explanation as to why!"

Fred sighed in defeat and sat down on his end. "Well as you can see Siren's Alley is flooded to hell. And what's separating us from all that water is a built-in failsafe that won't allow the door to open if there's water outside the bathysphere."

"So why can't we just turn around and go to another part of Rapture?"

Fred chuckled. "That's an easy one. You see when they built in the first failsafe they didn't realize that it might compete with the bathysphere's programming. Basically we told it to go to Siren's Alley but it hasn't arrived yet otherwise the door would have opened but thanks to the water that's not going to happen. So since we never officially arrived at Siren's Alley we can't go anywhere else until we do."

"How do you know all this?"

Fred picked up a huge book and threw it in Eleanor's direction. The book hit the floor with a resounding 'thunk'. "I read the manual. Apparently this one came with it."

"Can't we override the programming?"

"We might be able to but the book doesn't go that far. Probably figured it wouldn't be necessary when they wrote the book. And so… we're stuck."

Fred slumped against the bench and scratched his head. He pulled out his revolver and studied it. Eleanor gazed at him for a moment then averted her eyes when he caught her staring.

"What? I'm not going to use it."

Eleanor shook her head then got up and sat next to Fred. "I was just thinking about your gun. I noticed the revolver already had teeth marks before I had used it as a bit. Are they… You know, it is not really my business is it?"

"It's from my deceased wife. When I found her alive but badly burned I immediately called for Doc Johnson to come. He said that he would do all he could but that it would be extremely painful. I had nothing for her to bite down on so I used the butt of my revolver. Even then, after I had betrayed her, she still looked into my eyes and trusted me. She… still trusted me." The revolver dropped to the floor as did the tears that streamed down Fred's face.

Even though he was scared Stanley took this as a cue and sat next to Fred. He tried giving the crying man a reassuring tap on the shoulder. "I had to deal with multiple women too. Its-well it can get ugly."

Fred shook with rage and balled his fists. "I still loved my wife! You get that you asshole."

Stanley scurried in fright back to his side. "I was just trying to help."

Fred tore the cushion from his seat and threw it across the bathysphere. "But you're not! I wasn't trying to be unfaithful. I was just scared, angry, and confused."

Eleanor got up from her seat. She gripped Fred by the shoulders and looked him in the eyes. "Why were you scared?"

"My wife's pregnancy was unexpected. Ever since Rapture went to damnation, we decided not to raise any children down here. Didn't even know if she was pregnant until the fourth month. Hell, just figured she was eating too much. It was so unexpected. She got moody, angry… fed up with me. Even though it was hell on earth we still had each other. The pregnancy made me lose what I held most precious."

Fred embraced Eleanor in a hug. The proximity made Eleanor uncomfortable but she endured it for him.

"I was looking for what I had lost. I ended up finding it in the wrong place. Both my son's mean the world to me but I don't even deserve them."

"You are a good man," she whispered in his ear. "You are trying to make amends and that is what matter."

"But how can I continue when we're stuck in this grave."

Eleanor did not reply. She was busy staring at the bench where Fred had torn off the cushion. She reached down and picked up a deep sea suit.

"What about these?"

**Author's Notes: I apologize if this part seems to be a bit too convenient but why wouldn't every bathysphere have emergency measures. I mean the lacking of such measures would be incompetence on the part of the engineers. Other than that i had to slow the pace down so the chemicals could mix properly and not in a rushed fashion.**


	12. Lionfish and tigerfish and sharks oh my

She reached down and picked up a deep sea suit. "What about these? There are three of them."

Fred smirked, his anger momentarily subsided. "But that won't help unless we have…" He paused and walked over toward Stanley. "Get up," he commanded.

Stanley quickly got up as Fred tore the cushion up from the seat. "Helmets," he exclaimed picking up two of them.

After checking the suits, Fred found them to be in perfect order with no tears and full air tanks. It was too good to be true until they put them on. Stanley was short in his and Fred's suit was tight around the waist. For some peculiar reason Eleanor's suit fit just fine.

"Everyone seal their helmets tight. The tanks seem full so we should have more than a couple hours of air but we may have to tread water for a bit. There should be an exit in the Little Eden Plaza not far from here."

"How do you know?"

Fred pulled out a map from his back pocket. "Some guy went and mapped the place then sold it to the big guys for cash… kept his name on it though."

Eleanor looked at the corner of the map and saw the name: Atlas's Atlas. She thought it sounded stupid but did not say so.

After they had sealed their helmets, Fred got to work disabling the safe-guard. Eleanor tapped on his shoulder and motioned for him to move. She then reached into the control box and ripped a bunch of wires out causing the door to open flooding the compartment.

The water lapped against the innards of the bathysphere as the air leaked into the water logged structure surrounding it. The three companions left their haven to tread the lost city.

For the most part the going was slow. Schools of fish swarmed past them in multitudes. Eleanor put her hands out and the fish scattered around her only to rejoin once they had past. She giggled in merriment and was sincerely enjoying herself.

Meanwhile, Stanley remained just as nervous as ever. He kept crouching and looking behind himself thinking an attack was imminent. Not seeing where he was going he took a misstep and his foot glanced off something. He looked down so see the silt uncovering a female woman who had been unfortunate enough to be present when the place flooded. Stanley's shriek fell silent through the water. He ran over to Fred and clung to him until he was shoved off. In all truth the woman probably could have used the company anyway.

Fred was not enjoying himself at all-mostly because of Stanley's lack of balls. Still the place was quiet, too quiet and it was getting to him. But a few minutes later they had reached Little Eden Plaza where their exit lay. Both antechamber doors where wide open and sea life came and went at their leisure. Fred turned to Eleanor then Stanley and gestured for them to follow.

What little sense of security they felt inside Siren's Alley was stripped away by the vastness of the canopy of waster that enveloped them. Sea life was more scattered but also more abundant where it existed. Bright colored choral covered everything even the scattered garbage and excess that lay about the ocean floor.

The group tread softly through the ecosystem. Their multiple footprints in the sand were instantly was away by the current. A school of catfish could be seen ahead gleaning of the algae that had collected on an unfortunate corpse. As they passed by, Fred stared at the scene, thinking it interesting, while Eleanor turned her head in disgust. Stanley went to take a closer look but was startled when a shark came out of nowhere and had his own feast. Stanley fell backward and heard a popping noise. He checked himself over but found nothing. He got to his feet and rejoined the others.

As he walked up, Eleanor was the first too notice the problem. She got Fred's attention and alerted him as well. They both pointed toward Stanley but he shrugged because he did not understand. Fred walked over and bent Stanley over. He unhooked Stanley's tank from his back and showed him the hole through which air was rapidly escaping. Stanley started running but Fred and Eleanor stopped him.

Fred knew they had to act fast or Stanley would suffocate but he had no idea how to fix the air tank. Eleanor felt the same way but she also saw the solution. On Fred's tank was a second air valve for emergencies such as this. She quickly unscrewed the air hose from Stanley's broken tank and fastened it to Fred's tank. She motioned for Stanley to breathe normally and he finally calmed down. Fred, though, hated his life and these circumstances.

Five minutes later they arrived at another antechamber that seemed to be fully functioning. Stanley did not want to think about this. He had left his past behind. He was a new man but his past kept coming back. He looked back wishing to go an alternate route but knew it was suicide. His averted eyes came to grips with reality as he read the sign above the antechamber: Welcome to Dionysus Park.


	13. Captivated and intimidated

The water flooding the antechamber quickly drained allowing the group to enter Dionysus Park. Fred immediately unscrewed his copper helmet and suit while Stanley struggled with his gear. Eleanor proceeded to assist him with his gear but backed away at the horrible stench in the suit.

"Stanley I think you may have soiled yourself," she stated with a green face.

Stanley looked down at his feet pathetically. "It's actually just gas. It happens when I get nervous." He turned away in shame. He did not want to be here but more than that he did not want Eleanor to be in Dionysus Park either. "She might remember my horrible past," he whispered.

Eleanor removed her helmet but kept the suit on. The suit fit surprisingly well although it was the female version and she felt she might need its services again.

"You look just like a big sister," Fred commented with a smile. "Glad you're on our side."

Eleanor looked confused. "A bit like what?"

"Ah-um… never mind."

Eleanor shrugged off the comment for the moment. She was too enthralled with the area. It looked like Siren's Alley in an advanced state. Pink and white choral covered just about everything. Banks of sand collected in the corners of the rooms where the currents deserted them. Everything was tranquil until an explosion echoed throughout the area. A series of shots could be heard even closer.

Stanley crouched like a frightened rabbit. "What was that?"

"Stanley if you want to find out I suggest you follow the noise," replied Fred sarcastically. "But if you want to live then look for cover because I think it's heading this way."

"But what if they-," Stanley began but was cut off as a boulder flew past him.

Stanley hid behind a steel structure while Eleanor and Fred hid behind a couple stacked crates. Rapid gunshot could be heard even closer suggesting someone was carrying a machine gun.

Suddenly a body flew through the air and crumpled into the crate Eleanor was hiding behind. He peered from behind her protection and got a good look at his face. He had long blonde hair and a clean shaven face. She thought he was dead until he groaned softly. A bald man wielding a shotgun ran up to his friend.

"You diiiie," exclaimed a charging brute splicer.

Eleanor watched the bald man unload his shotgun into the big guy but it only enraged him all the more. The brute splicer picked up a boulder and tossed it at the bald man who was struck in the gut. The brute was about to finish off the poor man when Stanley suddenly got up and shouted at him.

"What the hell," exclaimed Fred who retrieved his revolver. He shot the brute but it only turned the splicer's attention toward himself.

"I kill everyone," shouted the brute splicer.

The brute bull-rushed Fred but quickly stopped when hot lead pierced his shoulder. His attention again reverted to Stanley who held a machine gun he had borrowed from the blonde guy. Finally fixed on his first target, the brute splicer walked over to a trembling Stanley and picked the man up by his head.

"No you don't," screamed Eleanor. She fired three balls of fire simultaneously at her friend's assailant. Her head began to swim but she ignored it.

The splicer cried out in pain and even Stanley had to blow out a portion of his sleeve that had caught on fire. The brute dropped Stanley and rushed to a pool of water. The heat engulfing his torso sizzled away. He growled loudly but then his mouth ran dry.

Eleanor stood before him, her hand sizzled with electricity. The bolt of lightning grew upon itself. The static grew around her and her hair stood on end. The brute stared at the pitch black hair and saw what looked like a raven come to pick his bones dry.

"Nobody hurts my friends," screamed Eleanor. She thrust her hand forward freeing the electricity from her grasp.

The attack struck the brute with such force he flew back into a rusted steel structure. Electricity arched across the structure and back at the brute. His eyes rolled back and drool poured from his flopping mouth. Five seconds later the fried brute splicer's body hit the ground with a thud.

Fred was the first to say something. "Eleanor that… that was amazing! I didn't realize you were that strong."

Stanley did not say anything but his mouth hung open in shock.

Eleanor would have accepted the praise but her head began pulsing and she took a misstep backward. She waited for the sting of hitting the ground but it never came. Instead a pair of strong arms caught her just in time. A face with blonde dangling hair looked down on her and smiled. His masculine lips began to move but her eyes had over ridden her senses.

The blonde man inquired again. "I said what is a princess like you doing here of all places?"

"I-I'm searching for answers," Eleanor replied with quivering lips.

"What a coincidence, so am I. The big question that has me in a pickle is: what's your name?"

"El-Eleanor."

"Eleanor hmm. It's Greek in origin. Means pity. But why would someone like yourself need pity."

Fred rushed over and roughly shoved the blonde man off Eleanor. "She doesn't need your pity what we need is for you to let us pass through."

The blonde man never answered but walked over to his comrade who still lay where he had fallen.

"Chief," the man said as he coughed up blood. The bold man shook his head then saluted.

The blonde man saluted back. He pulled out a small pistol and abruptly shot the bald man in the forehead.

Fred ran over to the man. "What are you doing?"

The blonde man dodged Fred's punch then held him back with his extended arm. "It is what he wanted. Will you deprive him of a soldier death?" A flame lit in his other hand and he burnt the corpse until nothing was left but ash. The sweet smell of burning flesh and sulfur filled the room. The man sighed quietly. "I am sorry you had to see that, Eleanor. It is necessary to burn the corpse so splicer's do not drain it of ADAM."

"Who the hell are you anyway?"

"He's Mathew Parks," Stanley surprisingly replied. "A pompous cop with nothing better to do than force his ideals on others."

Mathew combed back his blonde hair and smiled. "Ah, Stanley Poole. I thought I smelled the stench of a rat. Is this your new sewer? I might have to take issue with that. And you," he directed toward Fred. "You seem like a honorable guy but do not let this sewer rat tarnish your image like he tried to do with mine. Either way I see that you have come a long way and I am willing to accommodate you. Hot water, good food, and…," he paused motioning toward Stanley, "favorable company."

Eleanor turned to consult her friends. "I think we should take him up on his offer. We are short on supplies and I could use a bath. Well, what do you think?"

Stanley was about to refuse but Fred pushed him away. "Of course we take him up on his offer. I could do with a shower myself. Right, Stanley?"

Stanley shook his head no but changed his mind when receiving an elbow to the ribs from Fred.

Eleanor's eyes widened in delight of her companion's approval. "Well Mr. Parks, it seems that we would be obliged."

"Please call me Mathew," he replied smiling. "Please, this way."

**Author's Notes: Just a little anoucement that I have recieved 1,266 views to this story. And while that may seem like a very small and minute achievment it is the first of my stories to recieve over 1000 views. Sad but true and never the less i shall enjoy it. Thank you. **


	14. The daughter's first kiss

If you seen one part of Dionysus Park then you've seen it all. Just different version that entranced and enchanted the eyes. Every wall, every structure seemed to be taken out of a fairy tale. And the receded waters left a rustic look that only served to enhance the wondrous city. Eleanor found her eyes wondering everywhere with a hint of nostalgia that kept bothering her. Her memories did not lie and her mind did not deceive. She knew she had been here before.

Mathew immediately took notice of Eleanor's wondering gaze and silently chuckled to himself. "If you would like to see more of the park I could arrange a bit of a tour through the areas that aren't under constant alert of attacks. While you are under my protection I will see to it that you do not have to lift a…" he paused to grasp her arm, "lovely hand against these insufferable Brutes."

Eleanor turned her face away, she was blushing crimson. She had never felt this way; treated this way. She knew deep in her heart she could not stay long but she begged Aphrodite to prolong their departure.

While Mathew was wooing to his heart's content, Fred and Stanley carried their own private conversation in an irritated manner.

Fred felt sick to his stomach having to watch the greasy fellow in front of him verbally and physically put his hooks in Eleanor. If Eleanor was not enjoying herself so much he would step in and say a few choice words but that was not the case. "So how do you know that slime ball Parks anyway?"

Stanley sighed quietly and scratched an itch on his head. "I use to be a bit of a writer."

"Fictional?"

"Naw, mostly tell all biographies."

"You'd rat people out," Fred chuckled with a grin. "I would never have thought that possible for you."

Stanley rolled his eyes and sighed again. He looked at Fred who gave him a slap on the back.

"Aw common I was just teasin," Fred replied continuing to laugh.

A few steps ahead, Eleanor had apparently heard that bit of the conversation. "Mr. Tumble, I have not seen you smile since you hugged your two boys. Too bad it's at Stanley's expense."

Fred bit his tongue and quietly apologized to Stanley who shrugged it off.

"It actually happens all the time with former colleagues. Anyway, half the stuff I wrote was either highly over exaggerated or fictional but each did have certain aspects that even I didn't have to inflate."

Stanley paused as they pasted up a couple splicers loyal to Mathew who momentarily paused to debrief them. Unlike other splicers who were grotesque, disfigured, and demented, these men seemed fine aside from being overly armed. A big broad black man was lugging a minigun meant for a big daddy and a suspicious-looking, lean splicer with red hair was propping a spear gun on his shoulder.

"Hey boss," the red haired splicer chirped. "We held the dumb brutes back. Even pinned a couple who had gotten lost in the basement storage. Well Markus over here pinned them down. I pinned them to the wall." The red haired splicer then pointed his spear gun at Stanley. "Boom, headshot."

"That's good news Anthony. Your work is highly noted. So where does that leave us?"

"Ah yes well the brutes have barricaded themselves in the Triton Theater. They're probably pissing their nasty shorts by no- zzzzzghe."

Anthony jolted from the voltage that coursed through his body. The surge caused his hair to partially light and he frantically patted his head out. "What the hell was that for boss?"

Mathew ignored Anthony while he studied the cuticle of his fingers. "I sorry what did you say? Of wait how rude of me, Eleanor these are my lieutenants Markus and Anthony. And this," he said motioning toward Eleanor, "is Eleanor Lamb: the people's daughter!"

The word spread like wild fire and a few seconds later throngs of people young and old came to see their promoted salvation. The people pushed and shoved until even Fred and Stanley found themselves involuntarily abandoned. Eleanor found woman crying out blessings and young children pulling on her dive suit. She knew her mother was known throughout all of Rapture but this was different. 'The people's daughter', what did this mean? Since when was she this famo-

"Eurgh," Eleanor grimaced as her head pulsed. Mathew quickly withdrew a handkerchief and dabbed her nose before anyone could notice. He then stole it away leaving Eleanor with a quick glance of the blood it contained. His expression remained the same while Eleanor's faltered.

"Don't be like that," he whispered.

Eleanor was about to question his comment when Mathew tilted her chin toward his and kissed her on the mouth. The need to resist melted in a moment as she felt the heat escape his nostrils and his blonde hair tickle her forehead. Without her mind's consent she inhaled through her nose and returned Mathew's passion with her own. The crowd surrounding them looked own in awe and delight of the scene. Mathew broke contact and grinned at her.

"And now," he proclaimed, "in celebration of not only the Brute splicer's retreat but also the arrival of the people's daughter we shall have feast-no a banquet where all are invited. It shall be held park later this evening."

The crowd erupted in a roar cheers and everyone scattered to prepare for the event leaving the few that had already been standing there. Meanwhile Eleanor stood speechless. Her fingers touched the part of her lips where she could still feel the heat of their kiss resonating.

Fred rushed forward with his fist poised to strike. "You bastard!"

The punch fell short a couple inches with Markus, Mathew's second lieutenant, intercepting it. Fred struggled in vain and shortly gave up the task. "Eleanor, are you-"

"Okay?" To Fred's distain, Mathew intercepted his question.

"I- I am fine," replied Eleanor still a little taken aback by the kiss.

"I take complete responsibility for your pains. You see I could not keep this monumentous occasion all to myself. You are the people's daughter after all. But I did not realize the stress would cause you harm. I only meant to help you save-face when you became stressed."

Whatever her thoughts were, Eleanor kept them to herself. "I'm fine. I just need to refresh myself. And I am okay Fred, really…"

Fred wanted shake his head in disgust but he reframed for her sake. He looked at Stanley and found him making the same face. They would have to get out of here soon.

Mathew clapped his hands together to announce his intentions. "Well that settles that. Markus, would you kindly escort the lovely lady to my room and have my things brought to my other room. Oh and find suitable rooms for her friends as well. Meanwhile I shall make arrangements for the banquet."

Markus showed the way leading Eleanor and co to their temporary lodgings. Mathew corrected his hair for the umpteenth time and thought his plan through.

Anthony shifted his spear gun from one shoulder to the other waiting for instructions. In his experience it would not be much longer. His boss normally thought his best plans in mere minutes. A moment later Mathew stopped fidgeting with his hair which meant he was done scheming.

"So boss, why the ruckus? Why the big party. I mean we're going to take the theater right?"

"Yes all in good time. This was just the commotion I needed to finish them off. We shall sacrifice the Brutes to Ms. Lamb."


	15. Different lifestyles

Markus lead the group throughout a series of halls that had been crudely constructed in order to give Dionysus Park living quarters. But as they continued down the corridor the rooms became more luxurious. The walls were covered with beautiful wall paper and each had lights and plumbing. Markus stopped a few doors down from the end and opened door to Eleanor's temporary living quarters. It contained an oak dresser, king sized bed, and a master bedroom. Paintings covered the wall and a thick almost new carpet lay across the floor.

"It is a bit much for just a couple days if even that," said Eleanor astounded.

"Bosses wishes," replied Markus in a gruff voice. "He wishes to grant the best hospitality he can for the daughter of the people."

That was the third time Fred had heard that phrase here. He knew people almost worshipped her but he never understood why. He hated cults anyway.

Not wanting to appear ungrateful, Eleanor accepted the room. "Well then you may tell your boss, Mr. Mathew, that I humbly accept his generosity."

Markus bowed slightly showing off his shiny black head. "I will be back with toiletries for your convenience." He then closed the door and turned to the remaining quests. "Follow me." He led the two men down the hallway in the direction they had come from.

"I bet they give us the worse accommodations," Stanley whispered. He turned out to be only half right. The single room had only one working light that rocked back and forth from the ceiling. The swaying light revealed a musty old bedroom with an even grimier bathroom. Markus opened a closet across the hallway to the bedroom and retrieved some sheets. He then handed the clean sheets to Stanley.

"So where's my room," inquired Fred.

Markus pointed to the same room and walked off. His heavy steps vanished down the hallway.

"I was afraid of that," Fred commented. He sighed and entered the room. He found a random hook beside the bed and hung his hat on it. Stanley was making use of the bathroom when a discouraging sound could be heard in his direction. The sound of the toilet flushing could be heard, then again, then again, then a third time, and finally a fourth time. He then reappeared in the room with a slight greenish tinge to face.

"I finally unclogged the toilet. Don't ask what was in it."

Fred chuckled and Stanley started laughing too. It took the edge of the situation even in light of their accommodations. Working together they made short work of changing the sheets off the bed and threw the old ones on the floor to cover it. Fred got to work pulling off his boots and rubbing his sore feet.

"So what were you going to say about Mathew?"

Stanley chucked off his boots and lay on the bed. "He's just really ambitious to a fault. He finds what the official over him wants and works towards granting that goal even if he has to bend the rules. And he is a womanizer… which puts us in an even worse situation"

"We'll have to find a way to sneak out of here. Where are we headed anyway?"

"To Fontaine Industry headquarters. Gracie thought that if anybody could help Eleanor it would be Gil Alexander. He and Eleanor's mother were associates so he might know something. I don't think Mrs. Holloway trust Sofia Lamb anymore. Not that I do either." Stanley suddenly got to his feet and put his boots back on.

Fred looked at him puzzled. "Where are you going?"

"Out for a walk. I need some air."

"Better not wander too far. The Brute splicers could attack and I think some of the people here aren't too fond of you either."

Stanley nervously laughed then exited the room. He shoved his hands in his pockets and paced. He walked and walked. He thought about this place. He had all the power, money, and woman. He squandered it all after Sofia Lamb had been taken away. And that was due to his rating on her. He lived a life of excess and Stanley hardly even realized until a little girl approached him with his misdeeds. One little girl turned his life on his head and she did not even remember it. She needed to know her sense of right and wrong is what changed him, saved him. She and her father were his saviors.

Stanley looked up just in time to bump into a woman making her rounds cleaning the room. They toppled over with a loud thud. He quickly apologized to the angry woman and helped her pick up the fallen cleaning supplies when the door nearest to them opened. Eleanor appeared with a quizzical look and saw Stanley assisting the woman. She still wore her diving suit but had taken off the arms and tied them around her waist.

"I accidentally knocked into her," Stanley answered to her silent inquiry.

The cleaning lady noticed the young woman and forgot her anger immediately and instead shook Eleanor's hand thanking her. Eleanor blushed at the sudden praise.

"Ah, Stanley, did you want to see me?"

Stanley looked in the room and found that he had been unconsciously walked back to her room. He nodded and entered her well light room.

"Please sit," she said motioning to the chair Stanley had not seen earlier. Eleanor sat on her bed with her legs together and her hands folded on her lap.

Stanley could not help but break into tears. She had grown into such a fine woman despite his actions. From such an immature and childish girl to a proper woman surrounded by decay. It made his heart break.

Seeing his tears Eleanor grabbed the handkerchief Mathew had given her for other purposes and gently dabbed his eyes. "What happened poor Stanley? Did you get into an argument with Fred? Did someone bully you?"

Stanley looked into her sincere eyes and broke into more tears. "I don't deserve such kindness to you after what I did. I was a monster and I even harmed a little girl who was convicting me of my sins. I'm sorry. I should leave." He tried to get up but Eleanor would not let him.

"I already know what you did."


	16. Surrounding sincerity

"I already know what you did."

The statement drove Stanley to shock. "You already remembered?"

She nodded. "I do not remember when. Maybe it was when I regained my memories of Aunt Gracie. At first I did want to remember them I guess but when I saw your face I accepted them."

Stanley turned his face away ashamed of himself. "Then why did you not hate me. Resent me!"

"I do not know why. I still cannot remember everything. But I think something wonderful happened that you did not intend to happen. In fact the memories almost seem like happy ones to me."

Although he failed to show it. Stanley knew what she was talking about. A sense of peace flowed

through him. He accepted her handkerchief and finished wiping his eyes.

Eleanor walked back to her bed and sat down. "I have done some bad things in my life too. For all the childhood I can remember people were trying to shelter me. I hated it. I hated when my mother left without me and some old hag would fuss over me."

Eleanor sighed. "The day you had kidnapped me I had actually ran away from Aunt Gracie. I wanted to see Dionysus Park by myself. I wanted to be with the grownups and act like them. I knew it hurt Aunt Gracie but I still ran away. I remember seeing you in a room with a couple other women. I saw some of the things that they were doing to you…," she said covering her blushing face.

Stanley's eyes widened. "I wasn't um…"

"… One of the women was sticking her tongue inside your mouth," She said shuddering.

"Ah yes, well I was the life of the party back then," he replied sighing in relief. "Well I'm glad you don't hate me. You were the one changed my life for the better. Well I need to get something to eat."

Eleanor nodded. She too was glad to tear down the walls that separated them. Stanley opened the door only to be knocked down when he hit Markus who was standing there. Instead of this mini-gun he carried a long package with several white towels and bottles.

Stanley quickly smiled at the big black man and left in a hurry.

Markus remained at the bedrooms entrance as still as a statue. "May I come in?"

"Oh, of course. Is that for me?"

The man placed the package on the bed and organized the contents on top onto the bed.

"Three towels, hair stuff, perfume, toilet paper," Markus said going through the list. "And a dress." He picked up the long package and took off the top. Inside deep green dress and earrings that matched. "Complements of the boss."

Eleanor peered at the beautiful green dress. She gently lifted it and saw something roll off it. Setting the dress down Eleanor picked up the object. It looked like a rusted pocket watch but when she opened it she saw that it was a compass. She looked at Markus confused.

"It's my favorite compass. I got lost a lot but I'm good now. It's a gift for 'daughter of the people'. Do you like it?"

"I love it. But I think it's broken."

Markus nodded. "But Ma'am even a broken compass can show you the way." Markus turned around and headed for the door. He paused for a moment. "The Boss may not have the right intentions but he is working in your favor. The banquet's in five hours."

He closed the door behind him leaving Eleanor to her thoughts.

Now that she had towels, Eleanor decided to take a nice, warm bath. She had already peeked into the bathroom and found it sparkling and clean. She bent over the tub and ran the hot water. It felt cold at first but gradually reached the intended temperature. Eleanor watched the water swirl around the drain before plugging it.

She then got up and walked over to the mirror. She looked at her hair and found it matted from wearing the dive helmet. She frowned at this finding.

"I'll have to brush it after my bath," she declared adamantly.

Next she took off her dive suit. When she and the others had found themselves stranded in the bathysphere she had to abandon the dress in order to put on the suit. It pained her greatly but she still had a pair of regular clothes Aunt Gracie had given her as well. The trousers were a little tight but at least they were not as old as the shirt which had a hole in the back. She stripped down to her underwear and folded her clothes neatly in the corner.

By all rights she should be dead or at least have a couple scars to prove her near fatal experiences but and Eleanor still could not find the area where the glass had penetrated her abdomen. She unclasped her _brassiere_and felt the fabric ease away from her skin. She was surprised by how tight her bra felt. She examined her chest in the mirror and thought that they may be bigger. She would have to talk to Gracie when she returned… if she returned.

Eleanor finished undressing and slipped into the spacious tub that could probably fit two to three people at one time. The hot water flowed across her silky skin and engulfed her ebony hair. A quiet sigh escaped her lips as contentment overwhelmed her senses. Eleanor leisurely lift her leg exposing it out of the water.

She grabbed the soap she had been given and rubbed it across her leg. The smell of vanilla and honey escaped the bar and filled the room. Eleanor plunged her foot back into the water and watched it get swallowed whole. The resulting waves formed bubbles that floated around the tub. One of the bubbles floated towards Eleanor's face and she kissed the bubble as it popped. She giggled aloud and covered her mouth hoping these walls were sound proof.

Ten minutes later Eleanor exited the tub along the soapy water to run off. With her body practically glistening, she grabbed a towel and dried herself. Then with the towel wrapped around herself she walked over to the mirror and brushed her damp hair. A moment later Eleanor unwrapped the towel around her torso and hung it up on a rack against the wall. She put her underwear back on and crawled into the bed. The sheets felt radiated her warmth and she felt sleep tug at her consciousness.

"I wish I could stay… forever like this," Eleanor sleepily commented.


	17. Broken dreams

The splicer gave up the charade and tugged on Eleanor's arm dragging her away. "Come with me you little brat!"

Eleanor struggled but found it to be useless so she did what all little sisters were supposed to do when they were in trouble. She screamed until her lungs ached for air. "Daaaady," she cried.

"Roooaar," Her knight replied.

Her Big Daddy soared through the air and landed on top of a bad man causing red butterflies to burst from his head. The meanie splicer let go of Eleanor's hand and she immediately crawled to safety. She looked back to see bright light shock her daddy. He quickly shook it off and retaliated by punching threw a man's chest. Eleanor joyfully tried to catch the butterflies that erupted from the bad man's stomach.

Her daddy was the best. He took take on anyone; protect her with against anyone. Eleanor watched and another splicer turned into an angel. But she was a good girl and stayed by her daddy's side. Another splicer tried to hurt daddy but was knocked over with a punch to the face. Eleanor raised her hands in victory as the man received the finishing blow. But her daddy missed. He failed to finish the meanie off. She had barely enough time to perceive this when the splicer threw a green orb at her daddy.

Eleanor looked at her father. His rage seemed to turned to confusion. His confusion turned to dullness. He did not move; he did not protect. What was wrong with him, she thought.

"D-daddy?" She reached out to grab at his leg.

"Ah, Eleanor, you need to wake up."

Eleanor opened her eyes to see Fred's chest which she was hugging. She let go and fell back onto her bed. She stretched and yawned loudly.

"So did you have a good dream? You seemed to be smiling," Fred spoke up trying to shake off the embarrassment.

"I was dreaming about… I do not remember."

Fred shrugged. "Well it's time."

Eleanor looked at him confused. "You mean the glorified banquet that is to be held in my honor?"

"Nope, not at all," Fred replied smoothly. Fred's hand went behind his back and retrieved his revolver.

Before Eleanor could say a word the gun's barrel swung past her direction and came to a stop next to Fred's temple. His face became green and grotesque. His eye's glowed with a yellow tint and his jaw became crooked unto his face.

"She is not your daughter," an unknown voice boomed in the distant.

Eleanor looked at Fred-no, not Fred. She could not remember who he was but the familiarity put an ache her heart.

"Fire," the voice commanded.

Eleanor screamed as the man silently obeyed the order and slowly pulled the trigger. The round pierced his skull causing a shockwave that turned the man's brain to mush that exited the man's skull on the other side. The brain matter splattered against the far wall around the area where the bullet had come to a rest.

Eleanor snapped from her dream. She franticly looked around and saw no one around her. She cupped her hands to her face and found them soaked with sweat. These dreams she kept having… they seemed so real and yet she could barely remember them. Her shaky feet brought her to the bathroom where Eleanor splashed water on her face. Drops of water collected at the tip of her nose and plunged into the sink. Eleanor quickly dried her face feeling sincerely refreshed.

She looked at the dress Mathew had given her. The laced border around the bottom was as bit much but the glossiness of the light green dress almost hypnotized her. She knew there were still a couple hours before the big too do but she could not wait. The dress slipped over her head and past her arms. She used the mirror on the wall to tie the strings that laced the back together.

"It's beautiful," she exclaimed. "My mother would like this dress. My mother…" Her mother, she thought. It had been a long time since she had thought of her but why now. Why now of all times. Eleanor hated it but she knew the answers would come in their own time.

(Knock,knock)

Eleanor quickly put Mathew's compass in her pocket opened the door. She saw Anthony standing outside her door in a yellow suit with sharply contrasted with his red hair. He was still shouldering the spear gun he was holding earlier and the grease was staining his suit. But he did not seem to mind the stain.

"Boss said dinners in five," Anthony said with a hint of lust. His eyes seemed to be undressing her as he spoke. "He asks that you don't be late. He hates waiting." He licked his lips and readjusted his weapon.

"I am… heading there now," replied Eleanor restraining herself. "Where is Markus?"

"He should be at the party. Why you like big black teddy bears? Either way I was told to escort your ladyship to the party." Markus hooked his arm awaiting the grasp of Eleanor's delicious looking hand.

Eleanor bit her lip and closed the door behind her. She walked up to Anthony and grasped his arm. His wide grin turned to a grimace as she took his arm and twisted behind his back. After a few seconds she released his arm with a grin on her face.

"I think I shall just follow you. Lead the way."

Stanley's enraged face matched his hair in a most intriguing way but he knew better than to hit the bosses love interest. He instead stomped off in the direction of the party; his teeth gritting the entire way.

As they entered the banquet hall cheers erupted. A table draped in red spanning the entire hall was surrounded with people shouting praises to her. She spotted Fred and Stanley sitting towards the middle of the table and Mathew, clad in a suit matching her dress, approaching her on the right.

"I'm so glad you decided to wear the dress," Mathew said. He knelt down and kissed her hand. Several 'oohs' and 'aahs' rose from the crowd. "Please, your seat is this way."


	18. Uninvited guests

Eleanor quickly took her seat next to Mathew at the head of the table. As he made a toast in her honor she studied the massive table before her. It was made out of solid oak but the middle was completely glass and the legs were made out of chiseled choral. A chandelier made of glass cut diamonds hung from the golden painted ceiling. But best of all, the table was covered with food and drink from which a pleasing aroma drifted around the room.

"Miss?"

Eleanor jumped in her seat as the steward tapped her on the shoulder. The gray haired man tilted the bottle he was carrying. Eleanor retrieved her goblet and watched the purple elixir pour into her cup.

She thanked the man who then refilled Mathew's cup as well. Eleanor took a small sip and felt the liquid create a light burn down her throat and a warm sensation in her stomach. She looked over at Fred and Stanley and waved towards them.

Fred faked a smile and waved back. While the food was good he was not enjoying the company. He Looked at Stanley who sat beside him. The man was gorging himself on a leg of chicken engulfed in thick, brown gravy and downed a partly chewed bit with a swig of wine. The sight was almost as disgusting as watching that pompous man Mathew lust over Eleanor… almost.

If only his sons could be there with him. Fred retrieved a photo tucked away in his shirt pocket. His eldest was ruffling his younger sibling's hair and only one was looking happy.

"Damn I miss my boys."

He felt a hand slap his shoulder and noted the edible grime covering it.

"Youug nade to lighen oop," laughed Stanley in a full belly, half drunk stupor. He then started hiccupping and took another drink.

Fred massaged his eyebrows in shear annoyance. "Hey Stan, you know that drink looks really good and I think you took the last of that vintage. Hey let me have a sip." Before Stanley could reply, Fred had downed the glass in record time and nearly gagged at the pungent taste. "Here, thanks for the swig."

Stanley tried to drink from his glass but nothing came out. He shook the glass upside down. "I- I think I'm dry."

"You know what," Fred commented in a droll tone. "I believe you are running dry. Let me get that for you."

Fred waved down a waiter and whispered something to the man then slipped him some money. The waiter nodded and returned with a full glass which Fred handed to Stanley. "Here you go. I got the waiter to get the good stuff."

Stanley's head bobbled and he peered at the glass. "Lookz like wateer to me pal."

"That just proves how potent it is. They told me the stuffs one-hundred proof. It's practically pure alcohol."

Stanley's eyes widened in pure delight. "Won-hudred proof? No way." He gulped down the glass and wiped his mouth clean with his dirty sleeve. "That tasted… GOOD. Hey, do ya think I could get sumore."

With a big smile, Fred proceeded to flag down same waiter and tucked another bill in the man's hands for his continued services. He took a satisfying swig and glanced back at Eleanor who seemed to be having a good time.

"Are you having a good time?"

Eleanor's head tilted toward Mathew. She was clearly in good spirits from drinking too many.

"I'm having a very good time."

Mathew suppressed a chuckle as Anthony rushed towards him. The henchman whispered something in his ear which caused his eyebrows to tilt. In a hushed voice he replied and sent the man on his way.

Eleanor propped her head with her hand. "What's that jerk want?"

"Oh ah, nothing," Mathew replied, "just some interesting information."

Eleanor was going to ask for a more in depth answer when an explosion tore through the adjacent room. A stray rocket propelled itself through the room and struck the ceiling causing the chandelier to crash through the glass portion of the table. People screaming in fright and ran towards the exits but were repelled by the brute splicers blocking them. Eleanor saw Anthony thrown back from the hallway closest to them by a black man holding a rocket launcher.

"No move," he shouted.

Eleanor clung to Mathew who slowly positioned himself between the brute splicer and Eleanor.

"You disgusting animals," spat Mathew. "Have you no shame? No honor? Even with all that muscle you still decide to attack us at our weakest moment. These are good people and you terrorize them."

The black man dropped his weapon and approached Mathew. Eleanor stared into the bulging eyes of the brute splicer and saw a terrible truth.

"Markus, is that you?"

Markus's eyes drooped for the slightest moment but then his anger returned. "You called Mathew. We take you to death."

Markus was about to pick up Mathew when Anthony, still lying on the floor, shot a spear at his former partner. Markus saw it coming and stuck out his hand. The spear lodged itself in Markus's hand with the barbed tip exposed on the other side. Eleanor jolted when the blood splashed across her dress.

With a grunt, Markus pulled out the spear and kicked Anthony in the chest rendering him unconscious. With his good hand, Markus picked up Mathew and ran off with him. Several people tried to retaliate but were cut down by the brutes who immediately retreated.

In a state of panic, Eleanor picked up the folds of her dress the best she could and ran after Markus. When she realized she could not catch up to Markus she tried teleporting but she couldn't focus. Her head was spinning in a fierce current that was making her sick. She fell to her knees and cried. A firm hand clasped onto her shoulder and she looked to see Fred comforting her. Eleanor weakly smiled back but then her stomach rebelled and she vomited onto his shoes.

**Author's Notes: So Markus is the bad guy behind it all. Showing off his true colors. Betcha didn't see that coming. Well neither did I at first. I had pretty much just written Mathew as a pretty/wealthy guy who would drive a wedge between Eleanor and crew. Funny how these things pan out. And uh please comment if you like it. thank you.**


	19. Phony identities

"But I have to find him!"

"Eleanor, you're in no shape to find him let alone fend off all those brute splicers."

"But I-I just," Eleanor pleaded just before vomiting what stomach contents that where left from her last session. Fred courteously held her hair while Stanley retrieved one of the unused napkins for when she was done.

"I know you want to do something but I cannot let you do it. You can hardly stand and we're no match for them."

Eleanor graciously accepted the napkin from Stanley and wiped her mouth. Her throat burned from the acid but at least her stomach felt much better.

"Why'd you want to save that asshole anyway?" Stanley chuckled as he tilted back his recently refilled goblet.

Fred grabbed the goblet and gave it to Eleanor. "Here, drink this."

"What is it?"

"Just water. It will help sober you up."

"But you told me it was alcohol."

"And the fact that you believed me meant you had already drunk enough."

Eleanor smirked as she drank the water. She was grateful for her friends. She thought about their time spent together, about when they had first met, about puking again- which she did. The carpet reluctantly accepted another permanent stain as she hurled mostly water and saliva.

"Feel better?"

Eleanor looked at him with blood shot eyes. "A… a little. But we still cannot leave Mathew. We have to help him."

"Eleanor, I didn't want to say this before but something is not right about that man. I might be just a feeling but I-," he paused midsentence lowering his eyes. "I don't think he is worth..."

Eleanor put her finger to Fred's lips and stared at him while Stanley hurled in the only planter left unbroken. She seemed to stare into his depths with fixating, unblinking eyes.

"You turned out okay, didn't you?"

To his shame and regret, Fred broke from her piercing gaze first.

"Everything will be okay."

"But how do you know?"

"Because I have friends like you."

And just like that, Eleanor disappeared. The space she invaded and the pressure against Fred's lips vanished. It took Fred's neural synopsis a moment longer before he realized she was gone.

"Damn it to hell," he declared. "Stanley? Stanley! Gha, useless drunkard."

Fred walked over to Stanley and picked his head out of the pot he had been deflowering.

"Come on! We have to go find Eleanor."

"Whats she do (Hic) this time. She need rescuing?"

"Ya, we need rescue her… so I can kill the stupid girl myself."

"Because I have friends like you," Eleanor replied with renewed determination. Her wish to find Mathew was suddenly granted as she teleported away. The sudden drop of energy caused her headache to spike. Then a weird event occurred. Eleanor seemed to be staring at Dionysus park all at once but everything was twisted and wavy.

She tried to touch the waves with her hand and saw her appendage warp as well. Eleanor knew she should be alarmed but she felt sluggish. Her next coherent thought consisted of the merry-go-round to which she found herself staring at.

"Well that was peculiar," she commented. Eleanor peered around the carousel and found herself to be alone. She quickly pulled out Markus's compass and consulted it. The arrow wavered for a moment then picked a direction to which Eleanor followed.

"I know Markus is a good person. And he had to have given me this compass for reason."

After two minutes of walking Eleanor came upon a room completely frozen. She stepped inside and saw the vapor from her breath freeze. The compass pointed to the back of the room. Eleanor took a third step in the room and four cameras began homing on her position. She did not react but walked to the back of the room where she found a frozen door shut tight.

She placed the palm of her hand to the door. She thought about heating the door and her hand radiated with heat. Eleanor gasped as the steel door melted a second later. In the adjacent room a huge screen hung on the far wall that was littered with footage from multiple security cameras. The second thing Eleanor noticed were several brute splicers standing around a desk sitting in front of the giant screen. Behind the desk sat a chair and in that chair sat a man with blonde hair and a green suit.

Eleanor edged forward and heard a squeak as she stepped on something soft. She looked down to see a pair of eyes disappear as the creature ran underneath the desk.

The man wearing the green suit got up from his desk. He made a wide pompous smile showing off his pearly white teeth. "Eleanor," Mathew said. "It appears that the jig is up."

Eleanor cocked her head. This turn of events revolved in her mind causing a cluster of questions."Where's Markus?"

One of the brute splicers standing closest to Mathew walked into the light revealing his face. Markus's head sagged and Eleanor could swear he looked like he had been crying. She took a step backward and felt something nudge her back. Eleanor looked backward to see Anthony standing there still toting his spear gun and a wide, menacing grin on his face.

"Mathew… what are you doing here?"

Mathew did not reply but smirked. His smirk turned into a chuckle and then a bellowing laugh. "You still do not realize. Well then I shall come clean. You seem to have found the nerve center of my business. But more fascinating than that we know about you."

"Know about me?"

"Yes, while I've been manipulating the populace of Dionysus Park around my fingers, you have been parading around Rapture with your own little agenda."

"... Around your fingers? What are you talking about?"

"If you must know I shall oblige. There have been fewer and fewer splicers to kill and harvest their ADAM to fulfill Mrs. Lamb's dream. But if I want to ascend from my position I need to find more wicked splicers to harvest. So I had a brute splicer cocktail created and secretly and selectively distributed to the masses. When they became brutes they showed one of two reactions: one, they go mad or two, they follow me blindly, obediently. Either way they serve my purposes very nicely."

Eleanor took a moment to take it all in. To her dismay, Fred was right about Mathew. She felt gullible and stupid for not seeing it earlier. "But why tell me all this."

Mathew ran his hand through his golden hair. "Because as grand as my schemes are they do not even compare with yours and you will be dead soon enough anyway."

A ball of fire formed in Eleanor's hands. She compressed the ball and built layers of swirling flames upon it. In her rage she sent it flying towards the big screen. The screen exploded with a resounding blast that sent glass shards flying everywhere. Mathew himself would have been torn to shreds if not for the two brute splicers that stepped in to shield him.

"Do not screw with words," Eleanor fumed. "What are you talking about?"

Mathew marched towards her. His finger jutted out pointing at her. "You are a fake."

**Author's Notes: Eleanor's unpleasantries with alchohol are not unlike my own. Drinking and praying to the porcealin goddess seem to go hand in hand for me. As for being called a fake, well that has yet to happen. But like Mathew i do seem to have you, my readers, wrapped around my fingers. Buah hah ha. Mine is an evil laugh!**


	20. Conflicting truths

His finger jutted out pointing at her. "You are a fake."

"I am a fake?"

Mathew swept his hands skyward then slammed them down on the desk. "Yes and you can drop the act whoever you are."

"What makes you think that I am not… me? And if you thought I was an imposter then why did you have such a grand party for me, Eleanor R. Lamb."

A new chair was brought to replace the one that had been splintered behind the desk. Mathew sat down in it and scratched his five o'clock shadow. "Well we did not actually know about your little scheme 'till the middle of the party. Poor timing to be sure but in retrospect I think it fits things nicely."

Mathew got up from his chair again and walked over to one of the brutes standing behind him. He plucked out a large glass shard out of the man's giant and deformed back. The brute uttered a small whimper that brought a smile back to Mathew's face.

"You see, after your little nosebleed I had made a call to Sofia Lamb to inquire about your health. The reply came from one of her subordinates saying that the real Eleanor R. Lamb had not left Persephone at all. And as for the party, well that was just a ploy meant to bolster the people's resolve in the total genocide of brute splicers- or so I wish them to think. You were just a showpiece for the party but now you shall be the centerpiece of the stage and its mastermind: the grand leader of the brute splicers and imposter of Eleanor Lamb hell-bent on the destruction of Rapture."

Eleanor's knees felt like rubber. She fell forward onto her knees. Her palms were wet with sweat and her hands shook at the simple strain of keeping herself upright. The world seemed to stop and everything was a blur. The real Eleanor had not left Persephone, she thought in horror and dismay. But it could not be true. Her memories could not be lies could they? She knew Aunt Gracie and Stanley and they knew, her loved her, remembered her.

She suddenly gripped her head. Something seemed to be forcing its way into her consciousness. Thousands of voice echoing in unison rippled through her mind.

"They are not fake memories dear child," the voices spoke in multiple volumes. "But unfortunately they are not entirely true either." The voices began cutting in and out. "Find (indistinct) …The Great (indistinct) …Futuristics. Do-not-tarry!"

The voices departed and Eleanor felt her head clear. Who ever had just contacted had bolstered her determination as well as her questions. Eleanor looked up from where she squatting as saw those same beady eyes from underneath the desk. With his victory at hand, Mathew strutted over to Eleanor. He grasped her chin and tilted it toward his own.

"I do not know who you are or what your end game is but in my territory, my house. And while you seem to have played your cards quite well, you would do well to remember that the house always wins." Mathew then tilted his head forward and brushed his lips against her. Eleanor tried to struggle but the affection she had felt before left her longing for more.

In return she passionately squeezed her lips against his and tasted the port he had been drinking at the party. The wine from the bottle they had shared during the banquet he had set up to fool the good people she had met. The thoughts of disgust rotted the passion within her heart and she broke the kiss first. Mathew tried to linger but Eleanor turned her face away as well as her heart.

Mathew stared at her for a moment longer then licked his lips still tasting the aura she had left. "Such a pity," he said heart fallen. "If there was a god I would pray that you were the real one." Mathew stood up and brushed off the kinks in his suit. He snapped his fingers toward one of the brutes and motioned towards Eleanor. The brute's feet echoed across the floor and before she could react, the brute had picked her up by the neck. Eleanor looked into the splicer's dull eyes as she gripped his fingers to help support her neck. Eleanor looked at Mathew who still had his back turned. She looked toward Markus who stood still but his eyes showed anguish.

"Do it," Mathew commanded.

The brute splicer who was suspending her midair gripped the top of her dress just above her chest. As he pulled back Eleanor felt the zipper seam in the back give way and the rest slip under her legs and arms. The brute splicer dropped her to the ground and handed the dress to Mathew. The horrible man ran his fingers across the warm fabric and brushed his face against the part that had graced her breasts.

"I shall consider it a memento of your brief visit. Anthony, take her away. She has a trial to attend to and seeing how that goes maybe we shall let her pick her own death. If she resists then you may restrain her in ANY fashion you desire."

Eleanor lay on the ground in her underwear. She felt blind rage creep under her skin. She fixed her bra strap and stared at Anthony. The man stretched his arms and rolled his neck. The same wicked smile returned to his face. "Payback is a bitch. I should know. I'm staring at her right now."

With no intention of going quietly, Eleanor jumped to her feet and prepared to fire any and all plasmids at the red haired animal.

"Resisting already? I like that. Doesn't make my job any easier but a hell of a lot more fun. Feelin lucky?"

The exact moment Eleanor shot electricity out of her hand, Anthony fired a spear aimed for her chest. Both were meant to maim or kill.

**Author's notes: This is what happens when i'm bored out of my mind at an airport waithing 12 hours for my flight(do not ask me WHY!). Not to mention having to deal with haughty TSA officers. Sucks to be me but no you b/c it when i right my best. When i'm FREAKING BORED (sigh) oh well/keep reading...**


	21. Familiarity breeds hatred

The exact moment Eleanor shot electricity out of her hand, Anthony fired a spear aimed for her chest. Both were meant to maim or kill. The shock connected with Anthony sending him flying backward. Eleanor was going to use telekinesis to catch the spear but the drain caused her to fall forward. A huge pair of hands caught her before she fell and she looked up to see Markus. The man's smile quickly turned to a grimace.

"Markus?"

Eleanor felt Markus falling. She laid him on his side and saw the spear protruding from his back. The black man coughed up blood; his eyes were no longer dull.

"Why you not run," Markus asked.

Eleanor picked up the man's big hand and squeezed it. "You seemed like a good person. I could not believe, even for a second, that you had evil intentions. It was not supposed to end like this." She turned her head away in anguish. On the ground she noticed the compass lying shattered on the ground. She thought it must have fallen from her dress when it was torn off. Eleanor picked it up and cradled the object in her hands.

"My compass," Markus spoke weakly.

"Yes. It is what brought me to you. It showed me the truth that I otherwise would have been blind to."

Markus chuckled spitting up blood. "I don't care what the boss says. You're no 'poster"

Eleanor thought of when Aunt Gracie almost died and then she remembered her ability. "It is going to be alright. I can heal you." She pulled out the spear and rested her hands over the area where the spear had penetrated.

"Don't heal," Markus replied. "You do and I'll be a slave again."

Eleanor began crying as Markus breathed his last. She kissed him on his forehead and shut his eyes. "Rest in peace dear Markus and thank you."

"Yes, rest in peace. You know he was always troubled by his conscious," said Mathew with an amount of disgust. But *****C'est la vie.*****"

Eleanor wiped her red eyes and stood to confront Mathew and his brutes. Her thoughts turned dark and she lusted for revenge. Her fists were poised to release hell when something tugged on her leg.

She looked down and saw a little boy with dirty blonde hair, whom she had seen hiding under the desk, pushing her leg away. He looked at her with an annoyed look as he kept pushing. When Eleanor finally moved her leg the boy knelt beside Markus's body. A long syringe was retrieved from his dirty vest and he plunged the sharp end into the deceased body.

Even though harvesting was a common occurrence, Eleanor could not help but grimace every time the hyper-needle punctured the corpse of her friend. When she tried to stop little brother, his face snapped in her direction and he stared at her with eyes rimmed in black.

"Ah, yes I do not believe you've met our harvester," said Mathew. "His name is Billy not that anybody uses that name a lot. He was a failure presented to me as a gift in case one of our little sisters were ever taken. And he has come in handy," Mathew said emphasizing the last part.

"Eleanor!" Fred rushed into the room; his revolver in one hand and Stanley's collar in the other. "You, your clothes?" He looked across the room at Mathew and saw Eleanor's dress. "You bastard. I knew you were no good the moment we met. Eleanor, are you hurt?"

"I am just fine except for being a little chilly. We need to get out of here."

Eleanor had no sooner finished her sentence when more brute splicer came charging through the melted door behind her. They were completely surrounded and cut off from the exit.

"I do not think you will be going anywhere," Mathew replied. "Billy would you kindly step away from the bad people so we can kill them."

Billy looked at Mathew with lazy eyes and complied. But just as he walked away, Eleanor picked him up by the waist. Billy twisted and stabbed Eleanor a couple time but she held him tightly.

"Eleanor! What are you doing?"

"Fred we are taking this boy with us. Grab his syringe."

Billy stabbed Eleanor's arm one more time causing her to grimace. Fred snagged the hyper-syringe from his hand and pulled it out of Eleanor's arm. The wound healed but the multiple punctures still did not help at all.

Fred carefully pocketed the syringe and trained his revolver on the nearest brute. "So what's the plan?"

"Same as always. We retreat."

"How?"

"Do not know yet, still working out the kinks."

"Oh good. For a moment there I thought we were in trouble."

The sound of fingers snapping resounded through the room and every brute brought forth a weapon aimed Eleanor and co.

"I fear you will not be going anywhere," laughed Mathew. "I plan on parading you through the halls of Persephone as an imposter and possible leader of the brute splicer uprising."

Eleanor, still holding the struggling Billy, handed him off to Stanley. "Hold the boy and do not let him go," she said sternly. She then jutted her finger in the air and pointing it at Mathew. "Who in their right mind would believe your lies?"

"Believe my lies? My dear, the good people have believed my lies for some time now. Of course there always will be doubters but that shall just be another excuse to turn them into brute splicers."

"You are insane!"

"No I'm just an idealist. And you are dead. But I promise a quick execution if you give back the boy. And trust me I am being more than generous. So what is your decision?"

Eleanor walked between her friends. Her eyes glanced at one then the other. Fred had a curious look on his face while Stanley troubled himself with holding the boy. "Give me the syringe," she whispered to Fred.

Fred handed the tool to Eleanor who quickly drank the crimson liquid it contained. The act alone felt somewhat familiar in an eerie kind of way but she dismissed it polished off the collecting end of the syringe.

Mathew looked in horror as he realized his prey was about to escape. "No, no, nooooo! Shoot them. Stop them. Kiiilllll them!"

**Author's notes: *C'est la vie.* is French for 'Such is life' for those that did not know. ****Au revoir un ami  
**


	22. The great escape

Mathew looked in horror as he realized his prey was about to escape. "No, no, nooooo! Shoot them. Stop them. Kiiilllll them!"

But his efforts were in vain. Eleanor's eyes shown yellow and a gust of wind surrounded them. Suddenly water swirled in a ball then froze around Eleanor and her friends. The brutes tried to shatter the ice but their rounds were ineffective.

Eleanor's eyes went from bright yellow to sky blue and blazed with intense light. "Hold onto me," she shouted to her friends.

Stanley gripped Billy around his waist and held him to his chest while using his free hand to clasp Eleanor's shoulder. Eleanor turned toward Fred who also had a hand clasped to her shoulder. He held fear in his eyes but he nodded to her. He trusted her and that was all she needed to know.

Several explosions from missile rounds threatened to shatter their icy dome of protection. A third round was about to hit when a bright light flashed from the center of the circle. The light quickly brightened and even Mathew had to shield his eyes. He opened his eyes a second later to find the the light had dissipated and all his brute splicers were incased in ice. Even the missile round the brute splicer had fired had been frozen in it tracks.

Mathew peered around the frozen statues and saw that Eleanor had escaped. Escaped with his last harvester.

"Damn it to hell," he swore stomping his feet. "Could this day get any worse!"

The missile round suspended in ice exploded causing several frozen brute splicer to shatter into red chunks. Mathew roared in fury, blood lusting for revenge.

Eleanor and co reappeared right outside the train station. Stanley was the first to say something because Billy was biting his hand. "Auugh," he shouted dropping the boy. "The bugger bit me!"

Fred laughed with relief and caught the boy before he could run off. "I'd bite you too if you held me like that. Eleanor, th-that was incredible… are you feeling okay?"

Eleanor leaned against the railway car and vomited a little. She wiped her mouth off and breathed deeply. "I feel better now," she replied smiling. "Let's go."

"Ah yes, onto Fontaine Futuristics," hollered Stanley who apparently was happy to leave the place he had once called home.

Eleanor was the last to board. She looked behind her and whispered a 'goodbye' before she boarded. The door closed behind her and she entered the back cabin. She noticed Stanley's arm still bleeding a little from where Billy had bitten him. She knelt beside him.

"I'm going to heal your arm before it gets infected."

Stanley blushed a little. "Oh, okay. I mean if it's not too much trouble."

Eleanor placed her hand over Stanley's wound. Her hand glowed softly and she watched his skin stitch itself together. The entire time she was healing his hand, Eleanor noticed that Stanley was staring away from her.

"What is it?"

"Well um, you see," Stanley stuttered.

"What he's trying to say is that you're still in your underwear," Fred jumped in. He had been looking at Stanley to see if the man would stare. Heads would have indeed rolled had Stanley done so.

"Oh yes. I had completely forgotten. I was wondering why it felt so cold in here. You guys do not have any spare clothes do you?"

"Well nothing that would fit but we did retrieve this before looking for you. Thought you might need it." Fred retrieved a rolled bundle strapped to an old backpack he had snagged. He unrolled it to reveal Eleanor's diving suit.

Eleanor looked at the suit and shrugged. "Better than nothing." She walked into the conductor's control room and closed the door to save what decency she had left. A moment later she entered the room wearing the diving suit.

She sat down and sighed from exhaustion. She laid her head back against the seat and closed her eyes. Suddenly something heavy rested on her lap. She looked down to see Billy sleeping with his head across her lap. He was curled up in the fetal position and sucking his thumb. Eleanor looked at her friends. "What is he doing?"

"Sleeping soundly is what it looks like," replied Fred. "When the doors to the railcar closed I let him loose and he crawled to that corner. Been squatting there ever since just staring at us." Fred snapped his fingers. "I bet he thinks that you're a big sister."

"You think he does?" Eleanor quietly laughed while stroking the boy's hair. He was definitely cute. "I don't think that he is a true little brother."

"What do you mean?"

"Well Mathew said that Billy was a failure. And his skin is not pale nor his eyes glowing yellow. Not to mention all trials to make little brothers ended up in failures. I was told their testosterone levels combined with the splicing at such an early age gave them mood swings."

"Hmm, that's interesting. But his name is Billy? Did you give him that name?"

Eleanor licked the thumb of her glove and proceeded to wipe a smudge of dirt off the boy's nose. "No, Mathew said that was his name. I think it fits."

"Well we're gonna have to watch him and make sure he doesn't get hurt. If he doesn't have the same traits of little sisters than I'm afraid he can't heal like one either."

"I know," she replied yawning. "I'll protect him. I'll protect you." Eleanor's head drooped slightly. "I'll protect you." Blessed sleep quickly came to her aching muscles. She was glad to have such good friends surrounding her.

**Author's Notes: So my fellow readers, another area completed and the start of another. The good news for me is that i feel i did a pretty good job of the area. Kinda wished to use the theater a bit more (loved that area) but oh well. Bad news for you is that i will need a little bit of time to figure Fontaine Futuristics out. If there is anything you would like to see in the next area please let me know and i will absolutly take it into consideration. Ciao.**


	23. Guarded secrets

Her pupils constricted in the bright operating light. Her natural impulse was to raise her hand to shield the rays from her blue eyes. She turned to see a familiar face studying a clip board and a new face sitting in a laid back chair. She hoped he was not sick. She felt sorry for sick people.

"Papa Alex? Is the man in the shiny suit sick?"

"Ah, um yes he is very sick my dear girl. And-and we are putting him in your care. If you stay by his side and be a good girl I promise he will get better."

The girl mouth broke out into a smile."That's good. I promise to be a good girl."

"that is good," the man replied. The man snapped his fingers and motioned to one of his subordinates.

The man dressed in white like the doctor walked over to the man in the suit and injected him with something. When the man groaned a frown crept onto the little girl's face. The man with the clip board noticed her reaction.

"It is medicine to help him get better," the man said while writing a note on his clip board. A moment later he and his subordinates left the room with the door closing behind them. The girl found herself alone with the sick man. She started playing with a loose string from her dress.

"Say hello to the man Eleanor," said a in the speakers over Eleanor's head.

The girl silently nodded and walked over to the silent man. As she tilted her head to get a better look through his visor a mist filled the room from several locations on the walls. She inhaled the aroma and thought how wonderful it smelled.

"Hello, my name is Eleanor," she spoke to the sick man.

He said nothing.

Eleanor frowned at the rude, silent, and sick man. She crawled up his leg and onto his lap. Being careful not to fall, she slowly stood up on his lap. Eleanor softly tapped the glass of the sick man's helmet.

"Hey, I said hello," she spoke with an irritated voice.

The man still said nothing and Eleanor became impatient. She stomped on the man's leg she was standing on and almost fell over. Two strong hands reached out and caught her. The sick man placed Eleanor back on his lap.

"Hi my name is Eleanor. What is your name?"

The sick man groaned softly.

"Mr. Bubbles? I like that name. Hey, do you want to go out and play? I smell angels."

The big daddy picked up Eleanor and placed her on the ground. He groaned softly and stood up. He held out his big leathery hand and she placed her small hand in his. Eleanor felt Mr. Bubbles lightly squeeze her hand and she giggled. "Let's go Mr. B!"

The room faded with its surroundings and Eleanor found herself sitting in the sub car with Billy still lying on her lap.

"Mr. B," he whispered, "Where did you go?"

A pang of empathy arose in Eleanor's chest. That anybody could harm children like this was pure ludicrous. And yet here in Rapture it was a common occurrence. She studied the boy in his somewhat peaceful sleep. His dirty vest was splayed open revealing a even worse pair of suspenders that was missing a button.

She stroked his oily hair and vowed to give the boy a proper bath and clean clothes the first chance she had. Suddenly Eleanor's fingers snagged a knot in the Billy's hair causing him to snap awake. His eyes shot around the unfamiliar room and he started to struggle. He tried to struggle to his feet but Eleanor held him down for fearing he might hurt himself. Billy glanced at the arms that held him then at his capturer's face. Eleanor stared back at him.

"I'm sorry. I did not mean to wake you."

The boy seemed to understand and lay back down on her lap. Before he fell asleep again, Billy clasped one of Eleanor's arms and fell asleep with it tucked to his chest.

"I guess he doesn't want you to rub his hair."

Eleanor looked up to see Fred silently laughing at the scene.

Fred leaned forward and shoved Stanley from the position he was sleeping in. The man jolted awake. He looked at Eleanor and then Fred.

"What's up guys?"

"We've got a couple more hours 'till we are there," announced Fred. "And I realized…"

"Shhhh," Eleanor admonished pointing to the sleeping boy.

"…And I realized," Fred continued in a hushed tone. "That we barley know anything about who(s) or the why(s) of this trip. Sooo fill us in."

Stanley twiddled his thumbs for a second. "I am taking you to see Alexander the Great."

"The Great!" Eleanor's eyes shot open wide. Could this person be the same one that spoke to her in Dionysus Park? If he had powers such as this then maybe he also had the answers she sought as well.

"Well his name is Dr. Gil Alexander but sometimes he likes to seem important. I've never seen him but he seems to be an okay fellow. Talks a lot. And uh, oh ya, there is my…" Stanley's voice faded.

Fred looked confused. "Your what?"

"…My best friend, Max. I met up with Max shortly after I had left Dionysus Park the first time. Been surviving together in Fontaine Futuristics ever since. When that woman, Gracie, contacted me Gil said I should go and Max decided to hold the fort down here."

"He sounds like a very dependable friend," commented Eleanor.

Stanley nodded his head and leaned back. "Yes she is," he whispered. Out of the corner of his eye he studied the sun-light ocean surrounding them. His thoughts wondered to her face and he felt depressed. "Yes she is," he repeated.

Before he drifted off to sleep again, Stanley thought he saw several shiny objects flying through the water. He lazily dismissed the scene to be a school of fish. He would soon find out how wrong he was.


	24. Close call

"Did you hear that?"

Stanley's eyes snapped open. Fred was staring out the back window into the blue ocean. He glanced from side to side but saw nothing.

"See what?" asked Eleanor.

Fred scratched his head. "Thought I heard something pass us by. Something mechanical… like a bathysphere but a lot faster."

Eleanor stared out her side window. A flash of silver announced the mysterious object as it jetted past the sub-railcar.

"Whoa!"

The current caused by the silver missile-shaped object rocked the sub-railcar on its tracks. All aboard could hear the squealing of the metal on metal. Billy jolted from his sleep and hugged Eleanor for security.

As the sub-railcar steadied, Stanley released his death grip on the arm of his bench. "What was that?"

"I don't know," replied Fred. "But I hope that was the only one. This craft can't take too much more."

"Ah, guys?" Eleanor pointed out the back window.

Fred and Stanley followed the direction of her finger to see a horrible sight. At least fifty or more of these huge missiles were aimed right for them. Stanley was the first to freak out.

"We're gonna die. This is it for us."

"Shut up," Fred cried out. "Just shut up so I can think. Um, ah. Oh yeah, Eleanor, do you think you could transport us to Fontaine Futuristics?"

Eleanor stared out her window towards their destination. She could just make out the place rising from in the distance. She shook her head. "It's still too far away and I never been to Fontaine Futuristics before."

Fred looked at her confused.

"I could accidentally make us reappear in a brick wall. Or we could miss it all together and wind up in Davy Jones locker."

"Then we'll just have to go faster." Fred tore into the conductor's cabin. He stared at the console. Several lights were blinking that notified attendants of incoming projectiles. Another light was also flashing under the label 'rail-hook integrity'. Fred gritted his teeth and pushed the console's throttle forward. The rail car began to accelerate but not my much.

"Fred, they are still gaining on us," called out Eleanor.

Beads of sweat dripped from his forehead as Fred tried to force the throttle even further. Years of neglect and disrepair and let rust build up on the panel. In a last ditch effort Fred kicked the lever with his boot. A sudden lurch threw him back onto the rear bench in the passenger's cabin.

"Is that better?"

Eleanor stole a quick glance behind her. The huge missiles were still catching up, but it looked like they might make it first. "We actually might make it."

Stanley sighed in relief. "Yay, let's see them smash us n…"

Before Stanley could finish his sentence, the sub-railcar lurched again. The metal grinding noise grew even louder.

"Fred?"

"No, no, no, Nooo," Fred yelled as the cable broke causing the sub-railcar to break away from it track. The craft began sinking into the depths of the ocean.

"We are sinking," Eleanor exclaimed hugging Billy to her chest. The boy started to struggle out of her arms. When she finally released him he started pointing at something. All the adults stared at the lever he was pointing at. It was labeled 'In case of crashing'.

Eleanor looked at the others. "What options do we have left?"

Stanley piped up. "How about curling up in the fetus position?"

Fred shook his head and punched the glass with the hammer and pulled the latch. Immediately several bags deployed around the hull of the sub-railcar. The bags inflated with gas creating a cushion around the hull.

"Well at least the fall will be cushioned," commented Eleanor.

"No wait, we're rising." Stanley replied almost jumping for joy.

The craft began surging upward towards the surface. For a moment Eleanor felt afraid that she would never receive the answers she had been searching for. As the surface loomed in her thoughts, she wondered if it really mattered and if she could escape it all.

Her answer came as a teeth-shattering collision that rocked the sub-railcar as debris and rubble clouded the windows. Water began leaking in from the ceiling in mass.

Eleanor spite water out of her mouth and wiped the hair from her mouth. "What did we hit?"

"I- I think it was the rail-way," Fred replied staring at the debris. "We must have collided with it as we ascended!"

Stanley looked confused. "Then why are we still rising," he yelled over the water.

"We must have broken through. But we won't last long like this!"

The free floating sub-railcar surged through the water that permeated inside it. The craft rose above Fontaine Futuristics and soon the water weight of the water would drag it back. With his neck barley above the cold water, Fred stared at the city that was so close yet so…

"Eleanor! C- can you transport us now?"

"I tol," Eleanor replied as her face submerged for a second. She popped her head out and readjusted Billy on her shoulder. "We might be close enough but I cannot just warp us anywhere!"

"What about that dome area! Lots of space, air, not dying!"

"I… fine. Everybody grab my hands and do not let go," she yelled to her friends. As they latched on to her shivering arms she focused on the glass dome. Her body followed her thoughts and she found herself weightless in the middle of Fontaine Futuristics. The water gushed around Eleanor and her friends as she fell to the floor.

Stanley was the first to get up. "Is everybody okay?"

"That's my line," replied Fred. "And no I'm not. I think I bruised my back."

"Billy?" Eleanor looked around the floor. In the flowerbed right next to her she saw Billy laying motionless. She ran over to the boy and patted his cheeks. "Billy. Billy!"

The boy lazily opened his eyes, smiles, and falls asleep just as fast as he awoke. "He just tired," she sighed in relief. "Stanley?"

"Oof, yea on to Doctor Gil."

**Author's Notes: Man this chapter dragged out for me. I mean talk about dragging your face against a wall. Well I still hope you enjoy reading it. But on to good news well at least for me: Eleanor Alone has over 3000 hits which is a big deal for me anyway. And I thank everyone of my readers for reading and posting reviews. Thank you.**


	25. Rude reception

Eleanor tried to pick Billy up from the cradle of plants he was lying on. She struggled to support him and found herself weak and thirsty despite all the water she had inhaled. A thought suddenly erupted in her head. No, not a thought, an urge. Eleanor struggled to place Billy back down as she upchucked on the wet tile beside him.

"Hey, are you okay?" Fred asked as he rushed to her side. He quickly scooped Billy out of the way and held back Eleanor's damp hair.

Eleanor's stomach still ached as she convulsed. When was the last time she had eaten, she thought. At the banquet Mathew held? The mere thought of that man caused the rest to come out… just what she needed. But while her stomach straightened out her head began throbbing. She remembered a man in a metallic suit holding her small hand. She remembered puncturing a corpse with a long needle and drinking the contents her tool had collected. Tears filled to her eyes. She saw the man she had been looking for yet did not know it. She saw her father, Delta, his grotesque and yet handsome face lying on the floor in a pool of his own blood.

"Father," she whispered. She had said it so quietly that she herself did not even know she had said it.

"What did you say?" asked Fred.

Eleanor head snapped in Fred's direction it kind of surprised him. "Fred, was I a- a little sister? Did I have a Fa… Big Daddy?"

Fred's and Stanley's mouths fell agape. Either Eleanor had connected the pieces or her memory was finally complete. Both knew there was no denying her the truth anymore.

"Yes you did but…," Fred began but Stanley placed his hand of Fred's shoulder to stop him.

"Let me tell her."

Fred lowered his head then shrugged. He proceeded to pick up Billy and sat down on the stairs a couple feet away.

"When… when I kidnapped you, when you were little, I couldn't just do away with you. I was a coward. I had heard of the little sister program. No questions asked and a fair amount of cash to boot. And I just want you to know that I have regretted it ever since… So now you know. Do you still hate me?" Stanley hung his head in shame and regret expecting Eleanor's rebuke.

Eleanor was about to console poor, poor Stanley when several tremors shook the ground. She struggled to her feet only to fall against a pillar. Through the continued tremors Fred rushed over to Stanley and handed the still boy.

Suddenly a chunk of rock shot out from the wall and hit the Circus of Value vendor causing it to explode. A drawn out lull enveloped the room. Everything was silent except for the burning vendor and the dying laughter coming from within. Stanley's synapses began firing and he blinking through the settling dust. He walked over to the section of wall that had been broken and saw a giant torpedo-shaped coffin protruding from the hole. As he continued his inquiry, Eleanor joined on the left with Fred in the middle.

"What do you think it is?"

Fred snorted. "It's a dud, that's what it is. If it isn't going to explode after hitting wall then i don't think we have to worry about it."

Stanley readjusted Billy in his arms. "Hey guys… Does it look like a coffin to you?"

"A coffin! Don't be absurd. Why would anybody put a…"

A seam cut down the middle of the silver torpedo became visible. Then two doors split open allowing light to shine inside.

"… corpse," Fred stuttered.

The female body almost looked like a statue made out of limestone. The face held no expression and seemed peaceful. No signs of rot or decay could be seen or smelled. Eleanor saw the hands, folded across the chest, holding something. She lifted one of the arms to see a hook tightly gripped in it.

"It's a spider splicer!" Eleanor yelled as the corpse began to move.

The female splicer jumped to her feet and swung her arms outward knocking back Stanley and Eleanor. Fred dodged backward and fell on his back. The spider splicer said noting and threw one of her hooks at Fred. He rolled sideways but not before feeling the hook add a permanent scar to his cheek.

Fred scrambled to his feet pulled out his revolver and fired. The splicer dodged right and leapt onto the wall then the ceiling. Fred fired and fired again. His fifth shot hit the splicer in the leg causing her to silently fall. Fred breathed heavily and felt the part of his face that was bleeding.

Keeping his gun pointed at the white heap, Fred cautiously approached the downed splicer. He was about to pull the trigger when the splicer's feet came up and gripped the gun. Fred tried to pull the trigger but the woman's feet had locked the barrel. Suddenly the gun was kicked out of his hand and he felt a foot jack him in the ribs. As he doubled over the splicer arose to finish him off.

On Eleanor's end, she watched in dread as the spider splicer's hook slice in the path of her friend. Her arms reached out to grab the fiend with telekinesis, freeze her with ice blast, even blast the bitch away with cyclone trap but… her fingers remained powerless as her head swam.

(Bang)

Stanley had been watching the whole seen helplessly on the sidelines almost crushing Billy to his chest. The Boy tried to struggle but the man was not paying attention to him. But when the shot echoed throughout the massive room Billy and Stanley focused on the smoke rising from the barrel partially hidden at the top of the stairs. The person holding the rifle got up and walked down the stairs. When she took off her goggles, Stanley stared that the eyes that had saved his ass more times than he had fingers to count on. All eleven of them or was it ten?

"M-Max!" he cried out.

Fred stared at Stanley then at Max. This was Max, he thought. Fred wasted no time and dusted himself off and walked up to shake the man's hand. "Thanks for savvvve." Fred stopped dead in his tracks as Max took off his Leather helmet allowing her brunette hair to fall just past her shoulders.

"Well you sure took your sweet time," Max replied with a grin. "I was told that you'd arrive thirty minutes ago. And why didn't you radio me like you promised. I thought the worst had happened until Dr. Gil said you'd be arriving today and I almost thought he was joking. But then the place went crazy. You didn't piss another big daddy did you cause that would suck. Have you been eating well?"

With Billy still in his hands, Stanley rushed past Fred and one-arm hugged Max. The woman faltered for a moment to return his embrace.

Eleanor was the first to see it and frowned but kept her opinion to herself.

"Eleanor, Fred," said Stanley, "this is my g-er best friend…"

"Max!" Fred exclaimed. "Stanley told us about you but he failed to mention you were a woman." He strode up to Max and kissed her hand. "Or your looks." Fred felt a hand swat the back of his head and he turned to see Eleanor annoyed. "What?"

"You must be Eleanor Lamb," Max stated with a slightly irked face. "Stanley told me about what happened to you. It was actually I that kicked his ass onto the sub-tramcar." Max suddenly jabbed her finger into Stanley's chest causing him to almost drop Billy. "And you! You didn't answer my question and did you apologize for your horrid misdeeds?"

"Yes," Stanley replied feeling the jab inwardly as well as physically.

"On your hands and knees?"

"Yes!"

Before the shouting could continue Eleanor decided to step in between. "It is okay, really. He apologized the moment he saw me and I forgave him. He had been through a lot for my sake."

Max stared at Eleanor with a look of annoyance and something else. Max stepped past Eleanor and knelt beside the dead spider splicer. The woman lifted up a section of the splicer's white skirt and tore off something strapped to its leg. Max tossed the object to Fred.

"A two way radio?" he aksed.

"Yep. They like all have one," replied Max smirking. "You must be real brave to piss them off."

"Well I've had more than my fair share of their kind to deal with. Annoyingly fast little bastards though."

Max giggled and lightly punched Fred in the arm while Stanley looked on with a sour look.

"Fine," Max declared turning her back to the group. "I will take you to Dr. Alexander… don't lag behind or next time I won't be there to save you from Fontaine Futuristic's new inhabitants."

Eleanor followed close behind Max followed by Fred, with Stanley trudging glumly in the rear.


	26. Double gambit

(Drip, drip, drip, drip…. Drip)

Nothing is worse than walking throughout a city where danger lurks everywhere; including the ceiling. But the constant dripping of a leaking city, where danger lurks everywhere, made the experience even worse and freaking annoying. And to top that off, Stan was back and he brought friends, she seethed in her mind. After all that has happened… she could not even think about it for fear of exploding. But she would make him pay; oh she would make him pay. First, his pride and then, then his family jewels.

After trudging up the steps the group round the security booth. Max glanced around to make sure nobody was looking. When she was satisfied she took out a recorder and held it up to the security vocal print lock.

"Agnus Dei," said the recorder sputtering.

"Access granted," replied the security feed.

Fred looked at Max with a weird look. "Agnus Dei?"

"Latin," said Max as she entered the security booth. "Means: Lamb of God."

"Ah, yes. So, reloading?" he asked grabbing a box of rounds for his revolver.

Max smiled and tossed him a revolving shotgun. "Upgrading. you'll probably need it."

To Eleanor, Max handed her a machinegun with anti-personnel rounds and to Stanley she handed him a pistol.

Stanley looked at the measly weapon and summoned the best incredulous face he could muster. "why do I…"

Max put a finger to his lips. "Wouldn't want anybody to suspect that you were compensating for something." Score: her, 1 him, depressed.

Everybody filed out and the door promptly closed behind them. Max lead the way into the next room consisting of a giant staircase and several hallways. Clearly upset at the treatment he was enduring, Stanley huffed passed her in the direction of the vendor. Suddenly Max grabbed him by the wrist, tugged him back behind the wall, and held him there with her arm across his chest.

"What do you want now? I was just going to get my favorite bar."

"I…," she replied looking longingly into his eyes. But he obviously did not understand.

"What?"

Max bit her lip. "Shh! I think we're not alone in here."

"And what makes you think that?"

In her frustration, Max took out the two-way radio and smacked it against Stanley's forehead. "Do you hear the damn thing clicking like morse- code?"

Stanley took moment to listen then shook his head.

"Then we've got company and the unpleasant kind."

"When did it stop making clicking noises?" Fred asked.

"The moment we entered the room it went quiet. I'd been keeping an ear on it since I stole mine from the first one that jumped at me. Fred, you're with me. Eleanor, you take Stanley and circle around that way. Make sure to pick up his favorite bar while you are at it. Head around the stairs and then make a right. Keep it quiet as you can then run when they first come charging. Got it? Go," she whispered tugging Fred in her direction.

Eleanor swallowed and motioned to Stanley who was staring at his feet. She walked over to him and patted him on the shoulder to which he returned with a poor smile. They made their way around the stairs weapons pointed at shadows just in case.

After a few feet, Eleanor realized her hands were sweaty. But why, surly she had faced worse than a rabble of spider splicers? Maybe the fact that she was about to learn the truth about herself had a role to play in her anxiousness. "So," she whispered to Stanley, "We finally reached Fontaine Futuristics."

"Yeah so," he replied harshly but in truth he was thankful for the diversion.

"I just wanted to thank you for your help. I do not think I could have gotten here without your help."

"Yeah well don't thank me just yet. I'm betting Max…"

Max's ears were tugged away from her surroundings to the sound of Stanley whispering.

"…has it in for me more than the spider splicers do."

She was about to yell at the stupid oaf for being so loud but when she looked over she saw him standing on the other side of the room. In her puzzlement, she paused and listened.

"I do not think so. It seems like you two have a history. Lover's spat," Eleanor teasingly whispered.

"No, I," he paused. "I don't know."

Half tempted to continue listening Max motioned to Fred.

"What is it?" he replied.

"What is it," Both Fred and Max heard together.

Max's eyes went wide and she tore through her pocket retrievin1g the two-way radio.

"But there has to be something between you two. I can feel it," Max heard Eleanor reply over the radio.

But neither Eleanor nor Max were carrying a radio on them. Then that would mean…

"Stanley, Eleanor," she shouted, "Run!"

Both complied and charged full steam down the corridor. The spider splicer that had been stalking them on the ceiling jumped down and gave chase.

Realizing what was happening, Fred aimed at the ceiling and pulled the trigger right as the spider splicer leapt down. The force of the shotgun blast flung the body like a rag doll. Fred turned around to see a spider splicer running toward them at full sprint. A round from Max's rifle made a red hole on the splicer's otherwise white forehead. Max looked just in time to see a spider splicer fall from the stairs and receive a double barrel to the head and neck from Fred with love.

She was about to smile when another four splicers began charging behind Fred. Two on the ceiling and two on the floor. "Duck," she screamed.

As Fred obeyed Max flicked a switch on the side of her rifle and went full auto. The weapon repeatedly kicked back in her hands as she sent round after round down range. One of the splicers tried retaliating but a round pierced her wrist shattering the bone. As the splicer fell another round pierced her lung causing blood to erupt from her mouth. Concrete and blood flew around the room as another two splicer's bit the dust.

The last Spider splicer lunged at Max trying to kick her weapon. The last round from Max's rifle pierced the spider splicer's foot and traveled up the leg until it embedded itself in the splicer's pelvis. The splicer hit the ground hard. She opened her mouth to scream in agony but no sound came from her sewn shut lips.

Fred stood over the injured splicer and shook his head with disgust. "Save your screams for hell." He drew his shotgun to her chest and pulled the trigger. The body flopped over lifeless and Fred wiped the blood off the end of his barrel with the loose end of his shirt.

Max sighed in relief, "all in a day's work in Rapture."

Fred nodded ruffling his hair. "I, Noooooo!" Fred abruptly jumped toward Max.

She looked at him quizzically then gasped as a hook sank into her side. Someone kicked her sideways causing her to hit the wall hard. All went black.

Author's Notes: You know I was already going to have a funky thing between Stanley and Max but the rest of this was a last second thing and well... I love it. It basically works out most of the things i wanted in this segment of the story. Keep reading!


	27. Two sided coin

Max awoke from her deep sleep. The first thought that came to her was that she was lying on the cold floor. A small change in her assumption came when she looked up at Eleanor whose lap her head was cradled.

"Good morning," Eleanor said with a half smile.

"What the hell," Max exclaimed. She tried to get up but a sharp pain in her side caused her to fall back into Eleanor's lap. She looked up at Eleanor with an awkward face and saw that she very pale with bags under her eyes.

"Sorry. I healed that but it is still going to be sore. I am almost done with this bruise on your head."

Max quickly undid her leather jacket and lifted up her bloodstained shirt only to find no scar where she had been gutted. The skin had a slight red tinge but otherwise… nothing.

"That's amazing…"

"Yea but I hope I reconnected your organs right."

Max shot an annoyed look but the girl was not paying attention.

"But about Stanley and Fred?"

Eleanor remained silent as she healed the bruise on Max's head. She forcefully pulled Eleanor's hand away from her head and glared at her.

"Where is-are they?"

Eleanor pulled away from Max and wheeled around. She convulsed violently until red bile poured from her mouth.

Alarmed, Max crawled up beside her. "Hey, hey! What happened? Did you get hurt too."

Eleanor shook her head. "If only…" she wiped the blood from her mouth and spat the rest out. "Healing… takes a lot out of me."

Ignoring the pain from her freshly healed wound, Max grabbed the canteen strapped to her back and had Eleanor drink in between heaves. Max propped Eleanor against the wall. She retrieved an pep bar out of her bag and put it in her hand.

"Your probably hungry. See as how severely hurt I was."

Eleanor had hardly ripped the packaging off before she half swallowed the bar. She was handed another and gobbled that one up as well. Then another and another until Max had only one left. In between bits Eleanor explained that Stanley had been taken while Eleanor was fighting off several Spider splicers. She tried to chase after Stanley but then she heard Fred yell and ran back to see Max dying and Fred gone. While Eleanor continued munching down the bars, Max sat next to her and hugged her knees.

After wiping her sticky hands, Eleanor decided she felt a lot better. She studied the multiple wrappers around her. "You miss Stanley. You are afraid they have done something to him."

"Am not! What makes you think I'm worrying about that idiot?"

"You got all these bars for him, right?"

Max scoffed loudly. "Of course not. We just have similar taste."

"When I found you bleeding out you were whispering his name."

Max turned away to hide her blushing face. Was it that easy to read her, she thought. Another thought reoccurred to her. "Did anything happen between you two? Anything at all."

"No, why?"

"No reason. Stanley seemed a little distant that's all."

"Ready to go find your idiot."

"He's not an idiot," Max yelled. "He's not an idiot… He's my boyfriend."

"She's… she's your girlfriend," Fred replied disbelievingly. He had woken up a long time ago and found himself to be in the middle of a room and tied back to back with Stanley, tied the same way. Only one small light lit the room and it hung right above the two of them illuminating their holds. Originally they had been gagged as well but the knots were not tied very well.

"Y-yea," Stanley replied weakly. "Or at least she was… I think she hates me but I don't know why."

"It's because he treated me like, like I wasn't his girlfriend," Max threw up her arms. "Just waltzes in here and no, no…"

Max and Eleanor had been walking down the hallway searching for their lost companions. Eleanor had accidentally opened up a can of worms when she asked about Max's rough behavior.

"I understand." No she did not.

"I assumed he had hooked up with you," Max replied apologetically. "I know, I know, my mistake but you understand how it looked from my point."

"Oh trust me, I do." Eleanor still did not understand. Stanley was a good guy, a changed man, and a good friend but this was insane. Eleanor had never considered Stanley for dating. What Max saw in Stanley Eleanor would never understand. "So have you two… you know, made out."

"Oh yeah, lots of times," Stanley replied staring at the tip of his nose. He had an itch on the bridge of his nose and his last resort was to wish it away. "Sometimes I smooch my way up her arm until I stop at her neck. She loves that."

Fred chuckled in his restraints. Even though Stanley was neither the sharpest nor the handsome guy he did know his way with the ladies. "You dog."

"Yea well one doesn't sit in the lap of luxury without learning a thing or two about the anatomy of the opposite sex if you know what I mean." Stanley's old smile momentarily returned to him as he remembered the good times he had in Persephone. "But I- I was lonely. I had a girl for every day of the week and twice on Tuesdays. I would work myself into a drunken stupor and party 'till the dames left. Stanley the manly they called me. Always sounded better when I was drunk." Stanley began sobbing aloud causing Fred to roll his eyes. He really was not in the mood for a heart to heart at the moment. But Fred remained silent as Stanley continued.

"You know," he said choking through the tears. "I was always a rat, a newspaper conglomerate rat. Even before I came to Rapture. I made mega bucks catching people in the act and sharing it with the world. Made enemies and cut my ties with the surface down here. And down here I became a water rat- a sewer rat. My life was worth…"

"Nothing until I found Stanley. All the splicing had made me antisocial. I didn't need anything else except that next hit. Needles and plasmids, Eve and splicing were my life. But I never truly needed anything until I met him."

Eleanor sharply turned a corner, her eyes searching for someone sinister she could take her anger out on. She had been listening to Max whispering her ear off while they crept through the bowels of Fontaine Futuristics and it was driving her crazy.

"I actually almost killed him the first time I met him. I was looking for ADAM and saw him stumbling around. I knocked him over and pointed my rifle at his chest. He had the balls to grab the barrel and point it at his head. When I hesitated, he saw how torn up my arms were from the needles and- and he said I shouldn't waste…"

"Such beautiful skin," Stanley said. "And Max dropped the rifle and cried in my arms."

No sooner had Stanley finished his sentence when multiple spider splicers fell from the ceiling. They formed up into two rows and lifted their hands in front of them. Each froze in their position as if they had always been statues. Then a single white splicer slinked down the rows of her companions. She came to a stop in front Stanley. She raised a hook to her sewn mouth and ran the blades edge the length of her lips. The splicer exhaled as crimson liquid dribbled down her sliced lips.

"Oh Stanley I never knew you were a softy and a coward," the splicer crooned.

Stanley's mouth hung open and he remained silent.

Fred tried to twist his head to see who it was but he was unable to do so. "Stanley, who hell is that!"

"It's- it's Lucy. Lucy Evansfield! "


	28. The voice of unreason

Autnor's Pre-Notes: Okay folks long time no read... and then some. Truth be told, the entire time i've been writing this i have been more or less (mostly more) unemployed. My new job has plently of hours but not a lot in which to write this story. And then there was this chapter. This chapter had enough writer's block to cancel building the wall of china. While i tried to make it a good chapter all i got where lemons everywhere. So I'm done with writing it so POST! At least read before judging it but if you don't like it then... I whole heartedly agree with you. More to come!

"Lucy Evansfield!"

"Me!"

"You?"

"Why?"

"Because."

"What?"

"Haha hah ha."

"Man her laugh is annoying."

"hey, I heard that!"

"Why did you kidnap us?" Stanley pleaded.

"Isn't it obvious?" Fred replied sarcastically. "She wants Eleanor."

Lucy rounded the chairs, her hips swaying seductively. Fred felt someone retying the piece of cloth over his mouth only this time it was tied unmercifully tight. He strained his head and out of the corner of his eye saw the once blonde woman now pale as ash leaning towards his ear.

"You were the one with the brains in this outfit," she whispered to him.

"And you," she whispered in Stanley's ear. "I owe you one for the big daddy."

Stanley shivered in fear. A bead of sweat poured down the side of his face. Lucy reached out and caught it on the tip of her finger. She put the bead of sweat in her mouth and moaned.

"Taste like fear… I'm going to enjoy this and much, much more than you will."

Stanley closed his eyes. His lips quivered as a hooked blade slid across his cheek. He held his breath as the adrenaline rushed through his body. Stanley heard the blade sink into flesh but felt nothing.

Fred gasped and rattled his teeth almost biting his tongue off. He tilted his head just far enough to see the hook lodged in his shoulder. Screams of pure agony erupted from his mouth when Lucy viciously removed her hook. She waved the bloody hook in front of Stanley who helplessly watched. Lucy held the blade high and watched the globules of blood collect at the tip and fall onto the tip of her white tongue.

"Mmmm, taste like dying," she chuckled sinisterly.

Eleanor waited patiently, for lack of anything better to do, while Max finished studying a map on the wall. She spied a 'hidey hole' ten feet from where they were standing and a pair of eyes stood out. Eleanor waved to which the small figure waved back. After they had abruptly arrived in Fontaine Futuristics she had decided that it might be too dangerous for Billy to be walking around so she had told him to follow them via the 'hidey hole' system. And so far he had done followed her directions to a T which pleased as well as worried Eleanor.

"Say Max, just where are we?"

"We are in the sub levels somewhere beneath the Live Test Facility. Since these tunnels where carved out of the ocean floor they could go on forever. That is why smuggling was so rampant around here. But I'm…"

"Not sure where we are exactly," Eleanor huffed in annoyance.

"No, I was going to say I don't know where Stanley and Fred are but it's not far from the truth to say that we (sigh) are lost."

(Go right…)

Eleanor thought she heard Max whisper something. "What did you say?"

"I did not say anything."

Eleanor spun around but saw no one down the musty and damp corridor they had come from. Her eyes darted down either hallway they had yet to traverse but again found no one for whom the voice belonged to.

(No, go left…)

(Don't tell her that it's wrong…)

(Will you two shut up for once…?)

The voices echoed throughout the hallway, bewildering Eleanor greatly. "Are you sure you cannot hear those voices? I can hear them clear as a bell."

Max scratched her temple and continued studying the map furiously. "Can you tell the voices to stop kidding around so we can find our men?"

"But I…"

(My dear girl if you want to find your friends you must)

(Do a dance)

(Spin on your head)

(**GO LEFT**)

Eleanor looked at the hallway to her left and found it to be far more ominous than the right. She started walking off silently down the left hallway leaving Max to studying the map.

Max looked up from the map and looked at Eleanor with a stupid look on her face. "Did multiple voices tell you to go left?"

Eleanor did not give a reply but continued walking.

"Hey," Max shouted stepping away from the map. She felt a tug at her leg and found the boy named Billy trying to push her aside. When she did not move immediately, Max noticed his expression getting darker. Stepping aside, she watched the boy scramble into a cubby hole. When one of Billy's feet slipped she caught him before he fell. Billy's eyes went wide and he scrambled from her grasp into the dark depths of the pipe.

"I, uh. Sorry."

Billy's head shot out of the hole causing Max to jump. His head turned in the direction of Eleanor then back at Max. His cold stare sent shivers down her spine. His little morbid head disappeared as quickly as it had appeared.

Max ran her fingers through her hair. "Well I haven't a bloody clue so fine left it is." She quietly sighed and trotted after Eleanor.

Meanwhile Eleanor leaned against a pipe on the wall. Her head was swimming with voices either speaking at the same time or conversing between themselves. Somebody was trying to communicate with her, this she understood, but the voices were multiplying and becoming incoherent.

(Who are you), she screamed in her head.

(Good question)

**(There** my **once** name {i}s GIl {A}lexander **was** **a** {**m}an**. We **named** **Goo who **have never met but I **wa{s} no b{i}gger** {c}asually know you. You should {k}n{o}w that normally **than the height o{f} a shoe** I would not medd{l}e with your bra{i}nwaves** And when he walk on {f}oot** but** down the str{e}et every person** t{i}me is short for you if **he wit{n}essed he would greet** we do not {m}eet soon **But since no one would see him wave **which is wh{y} {**h}e would get mad and rav{e}** I am {l}eading you **Now see how friend{l}y he can be** to your desired destination.)

Eleanor's feet seemed to move of their own accord while she listened to the ramblings conversing in her head. The fragment pieces of conversation were interrupted by other bits with pauses and inserts within themselves. It was hard to understand the pieces let alone the complete thought each voice was conveying. Then Eleanor heard sobbing in the background. She thought it was another voice in the jumble of voices being forced in her head but the wailing was audible. It was coming from the door just beyond her grasp. The moment she touched the brass knob all voices ceased in her head. The squeaky door opened revealing two figures of interest surrounded by granite statues. One was still with the living while the other had been brutally murdered.

Max shoved the door open and rushed passed Eleanor. "Stanley!"


	29. Familiar madness

Max shoved the door open and rushed passed Eleanor. "Stanley!" She ran over to the chair where he had been restrained. After cutting the leather bonds on his wrists, Max clasped her hands to either side of Stanley's shuddering face. Stanley's eyes shot up to meet hers and his lips quivered.

Eleanor hurriedly scanned the room and saw no trace of Fred. All she saw was a two chairs but back to back with Stanley sitting in the one and a blood trail leading from the other. "Fred, I need you to tell me where Fred is. What happened to him!"

Stanley's shaking hand pointed at a white bloody corpse lying against the wall. "T-they suddenly turned o-on her." He shuddered again. "Tortured her then gutted her like a rotten fish."

Eleanor covered her nose as she approached the fresh corpse. The smell of death emulated the entire room. The chest of the corpse had been ripped open with hooks that had been left where they stabbed her ribs. Leaning in closely, Eleanor bent over and brushed aside the white hair.

"Lucy," she gasped. For whatever reasoning that possessed them, Lucy Evansfield's people had brutally murdered her and left her corpse to rot. It was almost a pitiable sight, Eleanor thought, almost though. Jolting from her position, Eleanor almost ran as she followed the blood trail out of the room and into an opposing corridor.

"Where are you going," Max shouted after her.

Without replying, Eleanor left the room with Billy following her closely.

Max cursed at the situation and shook her head in annoyance. She looked down at Stanley who was shaking so much he was getting the hiccups.

"Stanley, honey, how are you feeling. We can't stay here."

"I (hiccup) I-I don't know," he replied blubberingly.

Max quickly grabbed Stanley's jaw and forced his face into her own. As she kissed him, she thought to herself how she had always thought Stanley to be a bit of a wimp or a flopping fish but he was her flopping fish. And those lips of his, how she had been missing them all that time he had been gone. She had never known any of the women before her but she did not care. Stanley was funny, caring, sincere, a good kisser, and one other thing as well.

Meanwhile Stanley was feeling so alive after having Max crush her lips against his own. The warmth of her face radiated from the tip of his lips to his ears. All that trauma and pain shut down like a breeze on a hot day. Raspberries, yep raspberries again, He thought. It was her favorite lip balm after all. Max had never been one for painting her mouth with lipstick but her lips did chap a lot so she always used lip balm. And Stanley's preferences changed immediately. No more wiping greasy lipstick from his face, hell it always kinda pissed him off when he would wipe his face only to stain another good shirt. No, he preferred sharing whatever Max's lips had to offer: raspberries and all.

"Feel any better," Max asked gasping for air.

Stanley sucked air into his chest and stood up. He stretched his arms and cracked his neck sideways. "Just a bit," he replied.

Stanley's demonstration of bravado cracked a smile on Max's face. It felt good to have her man back.

"Ms. Lamb."

Eleanor paused as the voice called out to her. Fred. Finding Fred was her task at the moment but that voice… bothered her for some reason. Eleanor found herself following the crackling voice down a flight of stairs leading to a room partially flooded with ice cold water. Billy did not seem to mind the water as he waded past his protector. He smelled something good.

"I smell an angel!" he exclaimed. Billy pushed past one of many mannequins that had been left lying around the room.

Eleanor quickly snagged the little boy's hand and quietly scolded him. She had lost Fred and almost lost Stanley. The thought of letting Billy out of her sight sickened her.

"This way Ms. Lamb. It would seem that even a failed experiment such as this little brother still maintains better senses than you."

Eleanor followed the voice to a corpse that had been crucified to the wall by hooks. Billy tore himself away from his charge and busied himself stabbing the helpless splicer were it hung. She looked around the room but saw no one. "Who are you? Where are you?"

"Where am I? That answer is of no consequence to you."

Eleanor spotted a half broken two-way radio partially sticking out of the dead splicer's mouth.

"As for who I am," the voice continued, "I am a mere shadow of my former self… almost an apparition."

A sense of pent up rage filled Eleanor. She was sick of riddles and secrets. Her hand pounced at the radio and tore it from the corpse's mouth practically tearing the jaw off. Her heavy breathes fumed upon the device. "Enough of your bullshit! Do you hear me? If you've taken Fred then give him back or you will regret not having taken my generous offer of letting you live."

The two-way radio cackled with sinister laughter. "Generous offer you say. Are you sure you're up to the task?"

What the voice said was true and Eleanor knew it. Ever since they had arrived at Fontaine Futuristics she had been feeling worse and worse. Exhaustion was plaguing her very bones. Maybe playing the sympathy card would at least let her know who she was dealing with. "Okay, fine," she huffed, "I have not been alright. Tired in fact. So just please- please tell me if Fred's okay and what on earth do you want."

"What do I want? My dear, dear child," the voice cooed, "I want nothing less than the total destruction of Rapture."

**Author's Notes: Between my hours of working my ass off with my job and being lazy I have been severly lacking in the writing department. For that i do apologize. I really wrote myself into a corner and almost literally had to wait for the letters to dry before i could continue. So if you still deem my story worthy then press on.**


	30. Into the abyss

"What do I want? My dear, dear child," the voice cooed, "I want nothing less than the total destruction of Rapture."

Eleanor's mouth went agape in disbelief. "Surely you are joking?"

No reply was made and only the sound of radio static, dripping water and Billy's continually stabbing with his tool could be heard through the stillness.

"You are mad," she breathed.

"Am I? Maybe I have gone mad. My brain fallen into the abyss… But Rapture is an abyss that has swallowed many minds. The irony is that I designed my own prison and called it Rapture when it is a purgatory. Men do seem to trap themselves in their own worlds but mine seems to be somewhat bigger." The man began chuckling over the radio in a rather irksome manner.

Eleanor stared at the half-crazed, inanimate object sitting in the palm of her clammy hand "Built Rapture," she repeated half wishing her problems would cease if she crushed the two-way radio. "Built Rapture? You- you're not Andrew Ryan, its founder?"

The dangling speaker on the talking box exploded with laughter. "Me, Andrew Ryan? No who is the jester. Andrew Ryan was a fool blinded by visions of grandeur. He sought the perfect enterprise in an imperfect society. The benefits of hard labor and free thinking were his bread and butter but Andrew Ryan could never account for evil that lurks in the heart of man. And he paid for his ignorance dearly. No, I only seek to end what he started."

Eleanor could not help but scoff and the ignorance she heard but her hands were growing shaky. "You are a hypocrite- nothing but a hypocrite. You see evil and destruction and want to have your own fun as well. And what of your underlings? They crawl about fulfilling your evil deeds and you repay by slaying them horrifically. And most importantly, WHERE THE HELL DID YOU TAKE FRED!"

"Him? He is now a pawn for my whims."

"Eleanor!"

Eleanor looked up from the radio and saw Max quickly sloshing through the water in her direction followed closely by Stanley who was curiously licking his lips.

"Find anything? Where's Fred?" Max would have pelted Eleanor with more questions but she could see that the girl was crying. It was then that Max noticed the half shattered radio she was white-knuckling.

"And as for my conduct of disciplining my other pawns," the transmitted voice continued, "you must be referring to that idiot whore Ms. Evansfield. She had been warned not to act of her own accord. Such people turn into obstacles and I cannot allow that."

"Eleanor! We need to move. Where's Fred?"

"They have taken him. Where, I do not know," she replied sorrowfully.

"Well we'll have to find the poor sod later."

Eleanor shook her head in defiance. "I'm not leaving without him!"

If only there was a cure for the common stupidity Max wished. "Listen and listen good. If they haven't killed him yet then they probably won't kill him at all and we can't save him if we are bloody dead."

"Oh but you are," the radio squawked. "You see Eleanor just like Ms. Evansfield you too act of your own accord and accordingly are also dangerous sooo…"

Something white darted between Eleanor's peripherals. Her eyes shot up just in time to see all the white mannequins in the room charge towards her and the others with hooks. Eleanor dropped the nonsense-spouting radio and pulled her two friends back from lunging hooks.

Having been yanked back, Max quickly recovered in time to shot a spider splicer in the heart and point blank range and sprawl another backwards with a round through its head. She then tossed the rifle to Stanley who was very eager to trade up from his pistol. Max retrieved her backpack and took out a vial. The vial contained a plasmid that flashed multiple colors simultaneously. She clasped Eleanor by the wrist and put her hand on Stanley's shoulder.

"Everybody hold on," Max exclaimed as she activated the funky colored plasmid.

Even though she didn't know what was happening, Eleanor thought something was missing. "Billy," she breathed right before her body was enveloped by red flower petals. The next thing she knew she was floating sideways through the same room but on the opposite side. Eleanor could see all the splicers gathered around were she had dematerialized and Billy who had been abandoned.

Eleanor shouted his name but her voice sounded garbled. Billy still seemed to hear her and looked in her direction. A second later, Eleanor rematerialized only a few feet from where Billy was standing as he bravely fended off the spider splicers advances. She immediately extended her hand to extract the little boy. Billy responded by bridging the gap with his own appendage but grabbed nothing but air as his hand passed through hers.

Instead a white hand extended from Eleanor's own and grabbed Billy's wrist. Billy rewarded the splicer who was half fazed through Eleanor's ghost by driving his needle through its head. Eleanor watched the sharp tip of Billy's tool seemingly drive through her chest. Time seemed to slow down for her as he retracted the tool allowing blood to spray from her chest.

A look of shock, mirroring her own, smeared across Billy's face. His sadistic tool fell from his hand and shattered on the floor. The Spider splicers swarmed around him; half trying to capture him while the other tried desperately to suck up the red elixir from the broken vial. Billy no longer fought back. He fought the tears he had already cried the last time he had been abandon. Only this time he had taken revenge. His tiny fist remained tight even as multiple arms picked him up and hauled him to his next liege.

**Author's Notes: Wow wasn't that freaky. I claim full credit for thinking that part up five minutes ago. Well anywho on a note involving less needles, Eleanor Alone has reached over 6,000 hits with 35 reviews. And at over 37,000 words I think this is my most successful story. So thank you my precious(gollum) readers for your support, reviews, casual glances that drive up my hit counter, and please keep reading even when it takes me forever to write.**


	31. Kicked around

"Welcome to the Circus of Value! Haha ha ha"

As Eleanor's body regained cohesiveness she felt something sticking her in the back. She felt copious amounts of relief when Stanley non-surgically removed his elbow from her spine. She rolled over and found herself looking at a clown's face upside down.

"Welcome to the Circus of Value," the clown greeted for the second time.

The annoying clown abruptly ended any sense of ennui Eleanor had been feeling. She sprang to her feet knocking Stanley to the ground. No more flooded room filled with moving mannequins but instead a room crammed with copper pipes and a peculiar lifeless aquarium filled with red fluid.

"Billy," she gasped. She turned in circles hoping, praying for a different reality; like waking from a bad dream. Eleanor frantically drew her fingers through her hair. The corner of her eye drew to Max who was assisting Stanley regain his feet. Her feet followed her eyes into a mad charge across the metal grate floor.

Max had just finished making sure the thigh bone connected to the hip bone, etc and thanked her stars, and Dr. Alexander, that the plasmid was only a couple feet off. She witnessed Eleanor hastily get up and never mind knocking down her old man. She sighed quietly hoping her future children, the mere thought made her blush, never acted- reacted this badly. Max extended her hand to her old man. "Common get up you old dog."

"I feel more and more like one every day."

Max hardly had time to laugh because right then a pair of hands dragged her away from Stanley, who felt a little hurt being treated so poorly, and pressed her against a large pipe. A frenzied mop of hair was bowed between the two arms holding Max still.

"What was that?" Eleanor seethed her eyes now peering into Max's own.

"What, that? That was me saving your life."

"What about Fred? What about Billy? What about their lives. And what does my life mean without them!"

Eleanor quickly released Max and stormed off. What direction she was headed in: she did not care.

Max sighed again. Was she this troublesome when she had thought the worst when Stanley had been kidnapped just a moment ago? She hoped not.

Stanley walked over to Max and squeezed her shoulder. "You okay honey?"

"Yeah I'm fine. Suppose we'll have to find the ingrate."

Stanley replied with a nod. He knew Max's mind was already made up and he did not want to piss her off any more than she already was. He liked his jewels were they were and not speared to the wall.

Meanwhile, Max was silently gritting her teeth. "Screw having kids," she whispered.

"Did you say something?"

"No, let's go retrieve her."

Eleanor, having furiously stomped off on her own, made her way down several small flights of stairs and through an airlock door marked Live Test Facility. The door opened slightly slower than she liked so she returned the favor by stubbing her toe with a swift kick.

"Son of a whore," she swore under her breath. She was a bit more than teed- off but also scared and miserable. "Billy, Fred…" Tears she had been denying wet her face. She could not protect anybody she cared about. In her uselessness she wanted to scream in agony.

"Waaaaaaaaaaaaaaa!"

She had not even opened her mouth when a wail sounded throughout the hallway. Eleanor ran to the handrail overlooking the corridor just as another adjacent metal door squealed open allowing a tiny girl through. The little girl was wearing a pink dress with white buttons.

"A little sister," Eleanor gasped.

As she ran into the room, the little sister hazarded a glance behind and tripped falling on her face. The monster chasing her cackled at her misfortune until it ran into the airlock door. It was the little sister's turn to giggle as she got up and brushed off her dirty dress. But her merriment was short lived as the automatic door slowly responded revealing a pissed off brute holding his bloody nose.

"Uh-oh," the girl exclaimed.

"Yeah, uh-oh right pipsqueak," replied the bloodied brute splicer.

The little sister faced her opponent and slowly back away. She frantically searched or an exit but the brute kept advancing. The little sister backpedaled until she bumped into something. She tilted her chin upward to see a man wearing a bandana and armed with two revolvers.

"No dinaro, no ammo," the vending machine replied.

Seeing no escape the girl made the fiercest face she could summon but the fear in her caught in her throat caused her to gulp.

Seeing his victory at hand, the brute splicer chuckled as he closed the gap. His big feet plodded closer and closer.

But not if I can help it, thought Eleanor as she jumped over the handrail to the floor below.

Both the little sister and the splicer heard a splashing noise and turned to see the woman dash from the puddle where she had landed. The Brute was the first to take notice that the woman heading toward him, fast.

"Hey who are Y…," was all he could say when the bad woman kicked him in the groin. He fell onto his back with a thud.

Eleanor quickly retracted her foot and motioned to the girl, "you! Run away. Now."

The little sister stood still for a moment while her face went from surprised to irritate. She put her hands on her hips and marched over to Eleanor. She stopped a couple feet short.

"Which foot did you kick him with again?"

Eleanor did not understand the reason for the question but felt obliged to answer. "This one," she replied pointing to her right leg: the leg that did not hurt: the leg she had not used to kick the door.

The little sister nodded. "oh, right. Thank you." The girl then proceeded to bring her foot back and kick Eleanor in the leg.

A sharp pain surging up Eleanor's right leg caused her to jump on her previously sore one.

"That's for kicking teddy," the girl shouted before Eleanor could inquire. The girl followed her kick with a quick shove that pushed Eleanor to the ground. "And that's for ruining our game of tag you jerk."


	32. Big mistakes

"And that's for ruining our game of tag you jerk."

"T-tag" She replied rubbing her throbbing shin. "But he called you pipsqueak."

"My name is Penelope. Pipsqueak is my nickname and I'll play with my brother if I want."

"Brother? I didn't know. I'm apologize," Eleanor replied turned red with embarrassment.

"Well you should be hussy."

Penelope would have continued using words that shocked Eleanor but the girl felt a hand tug on her dress. "What is it Teddy? Are you okay?"

Teddy forced a grin on his face. "Tag, you it."

Penelope suddenly flashed an angry face at Eleanor. "Fix it," she commanded pointing to her brother.

"Uh- what?"

"You heard me. Fix my brother. Grownups always know how to fix things so hurry up and fix my brother."

Eleanor's face turned another shade redder at this new prospect. "But I…"

"Fix now!"

Having winced at the tongue lashing, Eleanor quickly brought her shacking hand over the fly of Teddy's pants. A white light glowed from her hand for almost five seconds after which she pulled it away. She shivered as a short-lived, painful ache shot through her head.

"How do you feel Teddy?"

To Penelope's surprise, Teddy clumsily got to his feet and gave a tug on the netherland region of his pants. "feel good."

Penelope also got to her feet and grabbed Eleanor's hand. When she did not see any light she shrugged and started shaking the woman's hand. "Thanks for fixing by brother. I thought you were going to kiss it to make it better like everyone else around here but I like your way better."

Kiss… IT, Eleanor considered in shock. She quickly dismissed the thought. "Do you know where I might find Dr. Alexander?"

"Oh you mean Gilly," Penelope replied stretching like a cat and yawning. "Teddy can take you but first (yawn) Teddy could you take me back. I feel sleepy."

Teddy nodded. "Tag tomorrow?"

Penelope nodded back as Teddy picked her small body up and cradled her in his arms. Feeling his sister's soft heart beat always made him feel better. With Penelope in his hands, teddy retraced his steps through the door they had first appeared.

Eleanor found she had to maintain a fast pace to keep up with Teddy's long stride. She glanced at the sleeping girl in his arms. "How long have you known Penelope," she asked thoughtfully.

Teddy used his free hand to show a height a mere half-foot shorter than his sister. "Since small," he said. "Bad men steal sister. I drink strong juice to be big. Take her from tin man. Gilly heal her."

Eleanor regarded teddy as heroic yet tragic. "So why do your sister pipsqueak?"

"I'm bigger now."

"And she calls you teddy?"

"Bigger, hairier," he shrugged going down a flight of stairs at the end of the hallway.

At the bottom of the stairs was a door leading into a hallway filled with several other doors some of which were broken. In the hallway, woman smoking a cigarette outside her room. She seemed like an older woman around her mid thirties. She wore thread-bare jeans with a button shirt with a red bandana covering her brunette hair back.

"Hey teddy, done playing tag already? Awe is Penelope tired. I thought I heard her staying up late last night. Ooh, who's your friend?"

Teddy would have replied but he bumped his head on the same pipe he always did when walking down the bad hallway. "Eleanor," he replied gesturing toward her. "Healed my number one."

To Eleanor's horror the woman's mouth dropped. "S-she did, did she? Well that's nice."

Teddy nodded then turned to Eleanor. "Wait."

Making no reply, Eleanor leaned against the wall opposite the woman who was smoking. An uncomfortable silence filled the scene.

"My names Diana," the woman smoking spoke up extending her hand.

"Eleanor."

More silence followed.

"So did you really um, heal his number one?"

"Grrrrr," Eleanor exclaimed running her hands through her hair. "I kicked Teddy because I thought he was attacking Penelope! And she insisted that I needed- that I should heal his groin area. A total misunderstanding that I am still paying for."

Right as Eleanor was explaining what had happened; Diana had been taking a drag of her smoke. Upon hearing it she inhaled too much and began coughing out volumes of smoke. And when she finished coughing she began laughing aloud until a loud "shh" came from Penelope's room.

Diana dabbed her wet eyes and regained her composure. She took another puff from her cigarette and pointed with same hand to a room a couple doors down. "Perrier, down the hallway, moved in here around the same time I did. He made the same mistake and shot poor Teddy. Only that time Penelope kicked him. Now Perrier, he knows two things: wine and women. And it was a shame too because he really knew what to do with his number one, if you know what I mean. Iced it for a week before..."

Diana, to Eleanor fortune, ceased her line of conversation when Teddy reappeared.

"Gilly?" he simply asked.

It took a moment for Eleanor to register that he was addressing her. "Ah, yes please."

"Going to see the good doctor?" Diana inquired. "Have fun kiddo."

Teddy began plodding off with Eleanor trailing behind. They quickly returned to the corridor where she had first met him only to turn the corner through a third door. Inside was a room that looked like a work bench area with a 'Power to the People' station but upon closer inspection of the machine a tiny lock combination appeared on the side.

Teddy fumbled with the combination while glancing at his arm but gave up and let Eleanor input the correct sequence. A small click noise came from the machine as it unlocked allowing Teddy to swing a section of the wall outward. Inside was a tiny elevator that could only hold one or two people. At that Teddy plodded off leaving Eleanor alone.


	33. Dr Alexander the great

Eleanor took a deep breath and entered. The gate automatically shut and the elevator rose to its destination. It was during that short trip that she realized just how tired she felt. Every part of her ached as she was certain her headache from before was returning. Hopefully the 'good doctor' had more than just answers.

A couple seconds later the elevator reached the top and the gate opened. The floor she found herself stepping onto was spacious in comparison to most area throughout Rapture. Tables with old lab equipment were everywhere and a metal dome ceiling. But the biggest surprise was that both Max and Stanley were there to greet her.

"Hey Eleanor," Stanley shouted about to run towards her when Max stopped him.

Stanley was about to ask when Max shook her head. She waited for Eleanor to approach which she did. Max folded her arms. "So?"

"I'm sorry," Eleanor stated, "to both of you."

Max looked like she was thoughtfully considering her words. "And…"

"And I know that it is not your fault either Fred or Billy were taken."

Max nodded with accepting eyes but then she stared again at Eleanor. "And…"

"And I realize my life is too important to throw away like that," she replied almost tearfully.

Feeling satisfied, Max hugged Eleanor tightly. "So long as we are alive we can save them. And we will rescue them. Okay?"

"No wonder Stanley loves you," Said Eleanor. "You understand so well."

"Well been there done that you know."

Eleanor then quickly hugged Stanley and apologized for being so rude to him. Stanley looked like he wanted to say something more but Max shook her head. Then they both headed for the elevator.

"Wait, you are not going to stay?" But where's Dr. Alexander?"

Max chuckled. "It's your party not ours. He's here, don't worry. Just try not to be too shocked when you see him."

"I heard that," a voice coming from a large speaker boomed.

Max and Stanley disappeared as the elevator descended leaving Eleanor to find the doctor. She looked around the large room but found no one. Then someone appeared around a corner holding several wires he was trying to splice together. "Hello Eleanor," he said with distaste.

Eleanor walked toward the man. She finally recognized him despite the numerous differences chiefly naming his dirty unkempt hair, dreary eyes and torn clothes. "Mathew Parks," she gasped. "But I, we just left you in Dionysus Park. And what have you done with the doctor."

"Hmph, wouldn't you like to know," he seethed. "Let's just say loose lips sank the ship but not its captain. I had a backup in case things went south. Never thought it would come to it though."

"What did you do with the doctor," she exclaimed.

"I didn't do anything with him," Mathew roared throwing down the wires he had been meticulously working on. "He's been were he always is," he said pointing to the ceiling. "Are you going to show yourself you bastard. Stop pissing around and deal with her so I don't have to."

Eleanor had thought Mathew had gone mad talking to the ceiling when it split in half revealing a glass atrium ceiling allowing one to view the ocean. Floating just above the glass ceiling was what looked like a disfigured fetus the size of a whale and bubbles arose around its gruesome shaped figure.

"Please do not worry about Mathew. He has been having a bad day due to the circumstances. And I must say it is a pleasure to remake your acquaintance Ms. Lamb," several speakers boomed.

Eleanor could not help but feel a little appalled at what she was looking at. This was not the doctor she had remembered. "Doctor Gil Alexander?"

**Author's Notes: So i finally made it to the good doctor. Kind of means most of the story is over due to the fact that get to him was the main goal. But it doesn't mean its going to end just so soon. Nope not soon and no i don't know just yet how i'm going to end it but i'm getting there just a bit sooner than you will. keep reading and thanks for following my lazy ass so far.**


	34. A darker shade of gray

"Doctor Gil Alexander?"

"In the flesh however diminutive it may be," he replied. "Shall we get started my dear?"

Eleanor peered at the eerie creature. "So you know what's wrong with me? Why I have headaches and how… How this all started!"

"Ah yes well I know the 'how' and the 'why' but 'what' as in 'what happened' is still very unclear. I do have several hypotheses but now that we have the test subject herself namely you I need not even theorize. So without further ado would you kindly follow Mr. Park's directions? Are you ready for us Mathew?"

"I have (ouch) been," Mathew replied sucking on his shocked finger.

As Eleanor guardedly approached the reclined chair next to where Mathew had been messing with wires she saw him squatting next to a very large machine splicing wires together. A moment later the machine hummed to life. When He saw Eleanor standing so close to him he jumped to his feet in surprise.

"Do not worry Mathew," she mocked. "I won't bite but then again neither can you anymore."

Being ridiculed he made a sarcastic smile, "Cheeky as always eh?"

"Children," Dr. Gil reprimanded.

Mathew rolled his eyes and shook his head with disgust. "Right then. You will need to take off your clothes, er suit."

"What? Don't feel like ripping them off yourself? And no I think I'll keep my dignity this time."

"Do you want the procedure done or not?" Mathew face grew red with anger until he felt a tug. It was Dr. Gil's manner of punishment. If he did not shape up, so to speak, then the doctor would increase the telekinetic pull on every one of his atoms. Not a very pleasant feeling.

"It is mandatory for the machine to get a proper reading," Mathew replied cool as a cucumber but his eyes seemed twitchy. "I have something for you to- to keep your dignity. There is a small office over there where you can change and the gown is inside."

Eleanor finally did as she was told and entered the enclosed room. The surprise of seeing Mathew so soon still gave her shivers. So much hatred filled with passion tormented her mind as she hastily removed the diver suit. She quickly folded her underwear and put on a gown made entirely of paper. It came down to her knees and was very airy. Dignity, she thought, what dignity was to be maintained with this construction paper rag? A second later she exited the room.

Mathew glanced her way when she reappeared. His silently exalted her form. When his eyes met hers she glared back. "Ah, ready?"

"Yeah," she replied cynically.

"Right then, please sit the reclining chair and I'll begin," he replied motioning to the chair next to where he had been rewiring the machine.

As she sat down the chair tilted horizontally and became prostrate. Meanwhile Mathew sat at the controls and calibrated the system. When he had finished he picked up a clipboard and showed it to Eleanor.

"Okay so here is the rundown of the machine. It has two horizontal line emitters that shoot harmless negative charges at various strengths down your coronal plane. The charges will either bounce off the human tissue they are not strong enough to penetrate or meet down your medial line and bounce back to be recollected."

Mathew then motioned to a metal flat panel that was suspended above the chair Eleanor was lying on. "This flat panel hanging above you, which will be lowered during the procedure, contains a positive charge and will collect the patterns made by the negative charges. The machine creates these images at a paper-width thickness then raises to the next paper-width level."

"It then stores the photos digitally. The end result is a compilation of photos that the computer assembles in sequence and finally sends the results to Dr. Gill up there via a chip he had implanted on himself. Now during the process you may talk but try not to move too much. The computer can correct a few distortions but not a lot. (sigh) Any questions?"

"Yes I do in fact. How do you know this equipment, or even how to wire it? You seem to know a lot more than you let on."

"Well I did make it my business to know and before I was put in charge of Persephone I was an assistant to Dr. Gil when he still was, well human anyway. After Stanley flooded the place most of the electrical workings had gone to pot and it fell to me to repair most of it. Wasn't an easy task to be sure. But I digress… are you ready?"

When Eleanor nodded Mathew sat in his chair at the controls and typed in the command code. The hum from the machine grew slightly louder as it began the tedious process.

"Given your size and weight the process should only take thirty minutes," Mathew informed.

Eleanor nodded then scolding herself for moving. For the first fifteen minutes the process continued without either person saying a word. Mathew kept glancing at Eleanor then back at the display to track the progress then back at Eleanor, etc.

After another minute, she felt the need to ask a burning question and to break the damn silence. "So why did you do it?"

Mathew gave her a weird look. "Do it? I have done a great many things that could be categorized as good and bad down here. It seems that my greatest mistake is that you were never one of them."

Eleanor began blushing but tried to hide it. "I mean Dionysus Park. I mean if Dr. Alexander trust some part of you then you cannot be all that bad so why?"

Mathew swung a full circle in his chair then firmly grasped the arm rest. "I left Gil's science team when his psyche first started to deteriorate. I knew he was going insane and so did he. So I left. Found work under Sofia Lamb who graciously accepted by abilities. She then put me in charge of Persephone after we drained it. I had wealth and power but all I wanted to do was make for the surface, to escape this hell. And I knew that if I appeased the powers that be then I would find my chance to escape. To that end I did anything and everything in my power to please Sofia Lamb. My desperation powered my madness."

Eleanor regarded the words he said. "I only hated you a moment ago but I can help but take pity on you."

"Hmph, pity me? I was a fool and still am one who deserves no pity. But enough talking you are done."

"The machine finished?"

Mathew pressed the button that raised the horizontal metal plate and lowered the chair so Eleanor could stand up. She got to her feet and stretched her lazy muscles.

"Hey Gil," Mathew yelled. "Did you get it."

Having been silent up until now, Doctor Alexander spoke up. "Yes, yes I have the results. Ms. Lamb are you ready?"

Eleanor did not understand what he meant. "I am?"

"Good."

Eleanor felt something pulling on her. The sensation felt weird but comforting in a way. She looked around the room and saw herself standing next to Mathew while she was floating toward the ceiling. Out of body experience, she thought.

"Pretty much," Doctor Alexander replied but his voice sounded wavy.

As she floated higher and higher, she found herself floating through the glass ceiling and then through Gil Alexander's gelatinous body. Suddenly Eleanor found herself standing in a white space. She heard steps behind her. It was Doctor Gil Alexander but his appearance was how he originally looked. A mousy kind of face with soft eyes and hair that was retreating.

"Again, Hello Ms. Lamb and welcome to my psyche."


	35. Rabbit hole

"Again, Hello Ms. Lamb and welcome to my psyche."

"I am in your…," Eleanor began to inquire but her voice sounded bubbly. She put her fingers to her mouth but touched her nose. "How did I get here?"

"My Psyche, yes. I merely pulled a portion of your state of mind into my own. And I apologize for the awkwardness. It seems common for most subjects to feel disorientated when exposed to this state of mind."

"Most test subjects?"

"Ah yes, well you see I had originally experimented on a school of fish to test the effects. It was quite humorous to see their cognitive minds bump into each other when in nature they work in concert. But while the results they provided were useful I am sorry to say that they did not survive the encounter. It seems that my mental-pressure, as I have come to call it, was too great for their primitive minds."

Eleanor had only been half listening to the doctor's speech. She had discovered that if she rotated her hand it would quite literally blur until she kept it motionless. It was only when the doctor mentioned dying fish that she began listening again. "Mental-pressure, Dr. Gill? And am I to assume that these fish were your only lab-rats until I came along?"

"Yes, mental-pressure. To sum it up it is the mental capacity currently being used at any given moment. And child, you need not worry at all. I did test more subjects and most had the same results. And I did not perform this research for your benefit because I already knew that you would be in good health; superior in fact. Because you see your own 'mental pressure' is even higher than mine. Even now I feel a slightly encumbered due to your presence which is why I wanted to be prepared for your coming."

Even thought Eleanor had a higher 'mental pressure' she still felt perplexed. "How is that even possible. Your brain has to be at least ten times bigger than mine and how would you even prepare? Not to mention I thought you were going to help me? I do not mean to sound selfish but I cannot see what all this has to do with my health issues?"

A grin formed on the man's face. "Would you like me to show you? It's actually quite a scene and as for 'helping' I still need a moment to process the results from your scan. Time is relative in a person's mind you know. I just like running my clock fast. So do you want to see?"

"I-uh, sure why not." She knew the Doctor had good intentions but whether or not he was sane or if sanity still applied to him she knew not.

"Well then I'll need you to close your eyes for a moment and while you are at it imagine your wearing something nice. Now open them!"

When she reopened her eyes, Eleanor found Dr. Alexander to be wearing tuxedo and her a familiar green dress.

Gill seemed to be examining her selection. "Hmmm," he pondered. "I find it slightly intriguing that you chose that dress especially because of the memories that are associated with it. But never mind that here, have a seat."

Dr. Alexander directed Eleanor's eyes through the infinite white space to a pair of red velvety chairs with golden tassels. After they both sat down Gill picked up a pair of opera-glasses and spied through them. But while he was amused Eleanor found herself bemused.

"Doctor Alexander this is fine and all but I hardly see the grandeur you keep hinting at."

Having heard her complaint the doctor began waving his hand for her to be silent. "Hush, hush you'll spoil the good part."

"Good part, doctor I do not see anything." Maybe he was batty after all, she thought, or maybe her eyes were not mentally perceiving what he was mentally creating? To be honest it all made her head hurt.

"Oh all right by all means here make use of the opera-glasses." Gil quickly produced another pair of opera-glasses and handed them to Eleanor who just stared at them.

"Just use them," he adamantly request.

Eleanor mentally rolled her eyes and peered through the opera-glasses. Her eyes focused on a stage where two men, dressed as clowns, were conversing with two noblemen and they seemed to be in a cemetery. Then one of the clowns, holding a spade, tossed a human skull to one of the noblemen.

"Who is it," asked the nobleman.

"A bastard," the clown replied. "Crazy fellow's it was. Whose do you think it  
was?"

"No, I know not."

"A pestilence on him for a crazy rogue," the clown spat. "He poured a pint  
of Rhine wine on my head once. This same skull, sir, was Yorick's skull, the king's jester."

The nobleman looked in shock, "this one?"

"Just that one," the clown replied.

"Alas, poor Yorick! I knew him, Horatio, a fellow of infinite fun, of most excellent imagination. He has carried me on his back a thousand times, and now, how repulsed it is in my imagination! I want to vomit."

Eleanor found she had to tear her eyes away from the binoculars. And to her wonder she viewed an entire theater watching the performance. Row after row of viewers enraptured by the spectacle that lay before them. But they were not the typical theater viewers. Most of them wore street clothes which had holes everywhere.

"Th-this is Hamlet is it not?"

As Doctor Alexander lowered his opera-glasses he chuckled. "Yes it is and unfortunately I do not think I shall ever see the real thing again."

"But this is so real," Eleanor exclaimed. "And these people… did you create them. They do not seem like average theater enthusiasts."

"Create them," the doctor pondered licking his lips. "No I did not create them. They are me and I am they."

"I do not understand. Just who are they to you?"

Gill got up from his chair and walked the balcony. He casually stroked his moustache as he thought. "Ah, now Ms. Lamb instead of answering your question I wonder if you would do me the honor of answering my own? This theater contains two curiosities. You have already figured out one: it's strange fans. But what is the second hmmm?"

Eleanor glanced around the magnificent theater. She saw brick archways, tapestries, and-and doors. Lots and lots of doors constructed out of different materials. Some were solid metal, some were chained/barred off and some where both.

"…doors?"

"Yes, my girl doors. They lead to different facets of my mind or brain. And you might have seen several locked doors as well. Those are areas I have deemed useless or impractical towards my studies."

Eleanor had tried counting the doors but found there to be too many. "Like what Doctor? What part of the brain could a scientist like yourself find impractical and useless?"

"Well for starters the emotions love and hate. Both release nasty chemicals into your body that cloud your judgment and make you irrational. Especially in my current state I have no need for either so I simply maintain my separation from them until otherwise."

"Now do you remember that article in the Rapture Times talking about over splicing and seeing ghosts? Those ghosts, as the newspaper crudely put it, were the memories and thoughts conjured from the DNA in the ADAM that had been previously used. When the poor souls over spliced their own psyche became over whelmed with too many quests." Doctor Gill sighed as he sat back down.

"Project 'Selfless' lead by your mother, was created so people would leave behind their human tendencies by losing their selves and become a host of reason. When I first began the experiment I thought I had mentally prepared myself for the onslaught of personalities of these ghosts that I would be combining with my own but I was wrong. It turned out that I was unqualified and slowly became mad. I found myself reasoning over morals in my own mind and my inner voice was a whisper among the thousands. It was only when your father, Delta, threatened my existence that I was able to caste out my demons and structure a conformity in my head. Now follow me." Gill walked to the edge of the balcony and tipped it over revealing a set of stairs that traveled over the heads of the crowd and ended at the stage. Eleanor followed closely hoping no one would mine their intrusion on the play.

When Gill's feet touched the stage the performance ceased and all eyes turned towards him. A sense of fear wavered over the theater. "No, no continue the play do not mind us. And Rupert, you are doing much better."

The man dressed as royalty, holding the skull, nodded his thanks and the play continued without delay. Meanwhile Eleanor had followed Gill behind the props to a steel door with a metal slit. Gill banged on the door twice and waited.

"What is through here Dr. Alexander?"

The Doctor did not reply right away and nervously snickered "My bad apples or inner demons so-to-speak. Through here is my madness."

**Author's Notes: Just in case you were blind when you read it that bit of theater was a scene from Hamlet, which i do not in any way own and is the sole property of i don't give a rats ass. With that out of the way thanks for reading once again and thanks to James Birdsong for his review. But i do however feel that his count is a tad bit off. For now i am up to thirty-five splendid chapters. (Let me know if i'm wrong!) **


	36. Symphony of insanity

**Author's notes: So in posting this chapter i do feel the need to warn certain readers that it does get a little graphic/crazy. If you don't care at all then meh.**

The Doctor did not reply right away and nervously snickered "My bad apples or inner demons so-to-speak. Through here is my madness."

After a small pause the metal slot on the door opened and a pair of eyes covered in a shroud peered through. A quick glance and the slot closed after which the door swung open. Both entered and the door slammed close. The room inside was small and square while the room adjacent to it was very large. The only thing that separated the two rooms was a very big sheet of glass two feet thick. But Eleanor was unable to make any of this out right away because the moment she stepped inside all she saw was a red haze that enveloped the room and two guards wearing identical shrouds.

Doctor Gill immediately produced two shrouds and gave one to Eleanor. He then directed her to the room on the other side of the glass. As she walked through the red fog she found the smell to be sickly sweet but it also seemed to empower her. As she approached the glass she found she could see the other side clearly. The fog only seemed to be shin high in the opposing room.

"I do no…," Eleanor was about to comment when a small boy rose from the fog. He quickly sat down causing the mist around his feet to swirl away revealing several toy soldiers. The boy picked put several of the toy soldiers with his grubby hands and started to play with them.

Eleanor turned to Doctor Gil confused as to what madness he was talking about. When she could not see him through the haze she looked back just in time to see a man thrown against the glass. His eyes almost pleaded with her when his twisted in agony. Eleanor followed his gaze down to his abdomen wear a knife protruded. Blood seeped out of his body and ran down the glass. The poor man collapsed and was lost in the fog. The sight left Eleanor feeling queasy but not as much as what she now witnessed. Multiple man danced around the room killing one another while the boy played with his toys soldiers.

"They are going to kill him doctor," Eleanor yelled behind her. "We have to rescue him now!" She began beating on the glass while the boy smiled where he sat.

"No Ms. Lamb," Doctor Gill exclaimed rushing up to her and grabbing her arms. "Trust me dear there is nothing you can do for him. I have already tried…"

"But," she protested as her eyes turned to the boy obliviously playing in the midst of these demons. She gasped as one the one man with the knife through it towards the boy. Another guy stepped in the way and caught the blade in his leg. He screamed in agony and shot the other dead. He wrenched the knife out and tried to scream in pain but all he could do was gurgle on the blood spilling from hit slit throat. His body fell with a thud right next to the child. As he died he looked up to see the same man with the knife smiling over him. With his final breath he extended his arm and pulled the trigger. The bullet sailed through the other man's jaw and exited his brain. Both died moments later while the brutal struggle around them continued. Now only three men were left. One had a sinister smile while another was furious and the last looked on blankly. They were encircled around the boy and were aiming their guns at each other. The sudden standoff caught Eleanor by surprise. Maybe these three did not want to fight, she thought.

"This town ain't big enough for the three of us," Eleanor heard the boy say. "Somebody gonna halfto die. Now draw ya varments."

Eleanor looked down at the boy. Mounds of overturned toy soldiers, presumable dead, were piled all around him except for the three remaining that stood in front of him. They were standing in a circle looking at each other.

"Boom," the boy cried out.

The man with the sinister smile fired his shotgun. The angry man looked surprised as the slug hit him in the throat and severed his head. He dropped his rifle causing it to go off.

"Rata-tata-tatata," They boy shouted.

The man staring blankly looked down at the multiple bullet holes forming a diagonal line across his chest. Blood dripped from his mouth and he fell sideways.

The last man standing laughed crazily at his victory while the boy squatted next to his last toy soldier.

"Boom," the boy said ripping off the soldiers arm.

The laughing man stopped for a moment. He glanced at his missing arm but only saw what was left of his shattered bone sticking out of his mangled flesh. "hehe he he… aha ha ha ha."

The boy looked at Eleanor and an innocent smile spread across his face. "Boom," he said ripping the soldier's head off. Eleanor dreaded what that meant. The laughing man placed the barrel in his mouth and kept laughing. A moment later the slug entered through his brain from the bottom of his skull. The momentum of the piece of metal churned the man's soft brain tissue into jello-like substance that traveled out the man's head where it accompanied bits of the skull. The whole mess ended up on the far side of the room and slide down the glass panel next to where Eleanor had previously stood. B

But she was no longer there nor even in the room. The terror of what she had witnessed was too much. She dreaded to see more and ran out of the room screaming. Her feet pounded away from the accursed metal door and across the stage.

"Stop her! Somebody stop her," Eleanor heard Doctor Gill shout behind her.

A pair of strong hands grasped Eleanor from behind and held her steady. She struggled vainly to escape but to no avail. She closed her eyes and wished to be gone from Gill's mind. As she did so her body started becoming opaque.

By this time Dr. Gill had already reached her. He grabbed onto her wrists as she struggled. "No Eleanor you must not. Open your eyes. Open your eyes!"

Eleanor gave in and opened her eyes and her body reacted by becoming solid again. Gill then placed his hand over her head. Red mist exited her pupils and was sucked into Dr. his fingertips.

Eleanor felt a kind of release from what she had just witnessed. "What was that?"

The doctor sighed in relief. "It was rage, hate, and unspeakable evil rolled into one. It was once my subconscious but it had been taken over when my psyche was corroded. I was able to recover my mind but not my subconscious. I was like a child with power to abuse and subordinates I could do away with at any moment."

Eleanor abruptly knocked Gill over and stood up. "Why, why you bastard did you have to show me that- that hell. I could have gone a lifetime without witnessing such…"

"It was for your own good," Gill replied as several people helped him to his feet. "If I can find what ails you and mend it I wanted to be sure that you do not become the monster that I became. I showed you my hell so you would know what evil truly feels like."


	37. The cost of healing

The doctor sighed in relief. "It was rage, hate, and unspeakable evil rolled into one. It was once my subconscious but it had been taken over when my psyche was corroded. I was able to recover my mind but not my subconscious. I was like a child with power to abuse and subordinates I could do away with at any moment."

Eleanor abruptly knocked Gill over and stood up. "Why, why you bastard did you have to show me that- that hell. I could have gone a lifetime without witnessing such…"

"It was for your own good," Gill replied as several people helped him to his feet. "If I can find what ails you and mend it I wanted to be sure that you do not become the monster that I became. I showed you my hell so you would know what evil truly feels like."

"T-true evil?" Eleanor screamed furiously.

"I did not come here on a whim," she replied punching the doctor in the chest.

"I did not come here looking for a lecture." She jabbed him again.

"I came looking for answers."

Just as Eleanor was about to jab him again, Dr. Gil caught her hand before it struck. But before she could recoil her hand she noticed several abnormalities quickly growing from her hand. Some lengthened and became thorny hands that thrashed about while others deepened and became mouths that wailed, moaned, and gnawed in vain on the doctor's hand.

"This is exactly what you need to control, Eleanor. It will eat you alive if you let it. Just calm yourself and remember who you are otherwise you will be lost like I was. You came for answers? To be cured? To do so would make you the most powerful being on the planet," he thundered. "To release you without an understanding of your power would be akin to opening Pandora's Box"

"I do not mean to scold you for what you have not done but to guide you so you do not fail where I have failed." Dr. Gil mentally sighed. "The answers you seek are behind you."

As Eleanor turned around all became white satin except for the middle of the room where a lifelike image of Eleanor floated above the ground.

"It is a sort of layered three-dimensional representation of your physical body."

"Layered," Eleanor inquired.

With two quick swipes of his hand both the images skin and muscle tissue were removed from the main body leaving only the nervous system, organs, and bones.

"Mathew was incorrect when he called you a fake, my dear. You would be more of a clone to be precise."

Eleanor had to tear her eyes away from the image of her own body stripped of most of its features. "I am a clone?"

"Yes, you see the vital chambers are coded to respond when certain people, with the right DNA sequence, die through traumatic means be it a accidental, self-inflicted, or murder. It would seem the original Eleanor, or so we shall designate her, died unnaturally and for a brief moment causing your conception. I had actually been monitoring what is left of Rapture when I came upon you in Pauper's Drop. I had one of my contacts there follow your path back to its origin and found that particular Vita-Chamber."

"So you know why I ended up in Pauper's Drop?"

"My theory is this: the reason this Vita-Chamber conceived you all the way from Persephone is the same reason it was still coded to work at all. Let me explain. After the death of Andrew Ryan by his son Jack and then the death of Fontaine by the same person, Sofia Lamb disabled the genetic key controls. But the Vita-chambers had to be shut down individually because they were not slaved to Rapture's mainframe. The one you came out of had not been shut down for a very simple reason: it was deemed inoperative and so was not touched. Normally you would have reappeared out of a chamber located in Persephone but this Vita-Chamber conceived you because its protocols were damaged and… it was the only one that could."

"Furthermore it would seem your slug is dead; brain dead actually. The Vita-Chamber did not fully reconstruct the symbiote. And neither did you come out unscathed. Certain portions of your brain shut down from the initial reconstruction only to be reactivated by the slug's regenerative abilities. But that is where the problem gets worse. The sea slug is no longer pumping out EVE but something even worse. This fluid is tearing your body apart as much as it is healing it. Every time you used the corrupted EVE the dead slug excreted more. It is why your memories are coming back. The fluid is killing your brain cells then reactivating them causing your memories to slowly return and…" Dr. Gil paused mid sentence. Eleanor clearly was not listening. She was sitting on the ground hugging her knees. Blue smog surrounded Eleanor emulating her gloom.

"I'm a fake," she whispered. "I am not supposed to exist in this world. But why, what is my purpose."

The doctor sighed aloud. "Eleanor I can tell you for a fact that no two objects can occupy the same space and while your name might be Eleanor Lamb, you are not the girl who almost died in Persephone."

Eleanor got to her feet and started beating on his chest. "Am I? The only difference I can see is that she is in good health and I am slowly dying!"

Gil Alexander tilted Eleanor's head and looked into her eyes. "Exactly… You have had experiences, found friends, persevered over hardships, and made choices that the other Eleanor will never be able to make. You are no longer a clone but a person of your own creation. I believe I can cure you but only if you want to live."

Eleanor nodded silently. Suddenly her vision became cloudy as everything started to blur. Mere seconds later she found herself back in the giant laboratory. Eleanor blinked twice then glanced at Mathew. "You didn't do anything weird to me did you?"

Mathew turned his back to her and folded his arms. "Hmph, you've been standing there for only a couple seconds. I would not touch you with a ten-foot poll anyway. That and Gil would shatter my body if I had," he replied whispering that last bit.

"Eleanor," the speaker boomed. "Mathew can extract the slug but before that we have to restore your cells. Every time the slug healed you it also corrupted your genes. In order to revert the cellular degradation I will require samples of DNA from your immediate family. Your mother's gene sample I already have but not your father's. You will find him in Hephaestus. You must hasten there before it is too late. But before you leave I must prepare a temporary cure. Please report back here at 0900 before you depart."

"I… yes, tomorrow." Before Eleanor entered the elevator to depart she stopped a moment and stared at Mathew. To Mathew her stare seemed deep and unreadable. He was about to remark when the gate squealed shut behind her as the elevator descended. He breathed heavily and realized that he had been holding his breath.

Suddenly a deep rumbling sound emulated from the speakers. It was the sound Mathew had come to recognize as Dr. Gil laugh.

"I hope you know what you are doing Alex," Mathew said clearly annoyed at the situation. "She is childish and irrational."

"Alex? Alex hmm. You have called me that in years. Not sure it still fits… me. And I find it amusing that you should care so much for the girl. I too share your concerns so I think I shall send a guide to accompany Eleanor and her friends. But whom?"

Mathew scratched an itch on his neck right below his collar line. "Well is should be someone knowledgeable about Hephaestus."

"Of course."

"Someone capable of bypassing the security."

"Naturally."

"So who then."

That laughing sound echoed throughout the massive room again. "I think I know just the person."

**Author's Notes: Hi people that read my crap. It been several lifetimes since i've posted/ updated/ gotten drunk jk. So how have you all been. Happy 2012 by the way and where the hell is my hoverboard damnit. We've reached a year as cool looking as 2012 and a vehicle w/ 40 mpg is still impressive... what the hell. So your probably all wondering why I haven't DONE ANYTHING for a while. Well... my laptop died. Someone stabbed it multiple times in shower. Sucks big time but meh. Bummed me big time but I still get the itch to write sometimes. Well that and somebody asked when i'd write more. So thanks for the comments, favs, hits, etc.**


	38. A good distraction

The 'Power to the People' vending machine slid back against the wall concealing the entrance to Dr. Gil's lab. Eleanor, who had just departed from the lab, was making her way though the 'Live Test Facility' of Fontaine Futuristic.

Not even counting the time it took for the machine to scan her body, Eleanor already felt exhausted as if half a day had already past in Dr. Gil's head. Having no other clothes to put on, Eleanor felt a little annoyed to have to don the diving suit once again. She felt quite drained and especially thirsty. Eleanor decidedly retraced her steps to where she had seen Diana hoping the woman knew of a spare bed. As she walked down the hallway she thought of Fred and Billy. Eleanor silently prayed to the gods of province that they were still alive.

After a few moments she rounded a before she came upon a huge reclined chair that she had not seen before when she was following Teddy earlier. Eleanor's gloved hand grasped at the leather restraints, the act of which caused the memorys of her father to relapse in her mind. She could almost smell the fragr…

(Bang, Smack)

Eleanor's nostalgic moment was interrupted by a banging noise behind her. She turned around to find Teddy beating on a 'Circus of Value' vending machine. Penelope, who was standing right behind him, was waving her finger at him and barking orders.

"Teddy if you break another sign then… then I'm going to be even crosserer with you so you better not break this one."

Teddy gave a short grunt, "yes pipsqueak."

Eleanor smiled at the humor of the moment then turned back towards the chair and affectionately rubbed the leather strap one more time before joining Penelope. Even as she approached the two Teddy was continually smacking the sides of the machine as if hell bent on destroying it. The machine itself retaliated against its treatment by continually declaring its slogan.

"Welcome to the (Smack), welcome to (Bang), Wel (Bop)…"

Eleanor casually approached the little girl and leaned over. "Hello Penelope. What are you doing?"

The little girl jumped apparently startled but she quickly hid it. Instead she put her hands on her hips and looked down her nose. "Oh hello Ellen, dear. I was just having Teddy here help me get a sign for my bar. Don't break it Teddy!"

Eleanor was about to correct Penelope but she surprisingly found it funny to watch the boy beat the machine to a pulp.

"Welcome to the circus of value," the machine squealed as Teddy continued to punch it.

Teddy finally became frustrated with the vending machine and tried tugging the glass panel off its bent fixtures. The sound of metal bending could be heard as the clown face finally gave way.

"That's not nice," the vending machine declared as it died.

Teddy brought the panel to Penelope causing her to jump for joy.

"Yay, you did it. You did it," the little girl exclaimed while jumping in circles. Of course when she realized that Eleanor was watching her she immediately stopped and puckered up her face in embarrassment. Not knowing any bad words to call Eleanor, Penelope simply stated, "Your face is melting." Then taking Teddy's hand, she walked, as indignantly as she could, across the way to where Eleanor could see Diana sitting at a crudely constructed bar behind which a man stood polishing glasses. Following close behind the two, Eleanor could clearly see Diana dreamily having a one-sided conversation and the man clearly being annoyed because of it.

As they approached the bar Diana immediately noticed them. "I see you guys finally got the sign you wanted. Does that mean the bar is officially open. And bonjour Eleanor, come and have a drink with me. We'll have a toast to… what were you going to name the bar honey?"

Clearly in deep thought, Penelope crossed her arms to her chest. "I know," she declared a moment later. The little girl searched through the rubble off to the side and found a broken wooden plank. "Crayon, Teddy dear." Teddy immediately retrieved a piece of charcoal out of his pocket and handed it to her. Penelope began writing on the piece of wood then counted the letters to make sure she spelled it correctly. When she finished she handed the piece of wood to the bartender. "Please put this above the glass picture." She then wiped her sooty hands on the leg of Teddy's pants.

The bartender sighed but obeyed her wishes, "Yes Mademoiselle… boss." He quickly nailed the sign directly above the glass panel with the clowns face on it.

"I now declare Penelope's Fun Bar open," the girl declared shooting her hands over her head. "Teddy lets go find more nasty adult drinks and Perrier you stay here and make money." Teddy put Penelope on his shoulder and the two were off again.

Having sat down, Eleanor stomach began to groan causing her to turn red from embarrassment.

"Hey, that hungry dear," Diana said rubbing her shoulder. "Here you can finish my last half or have Perrier make you a fresh sandwich. Ooh but they are a little pricey dear. Bread's a little hard to find you know."

Diana looked back at Eleanor and found the girl licking her lips. Apparently the girl had already polished off the sandwich.

Astonished at the speed at which Eleanor had consumed the meal, Diana paused in thought for a moment then shook her head. "Oh where are my manners! Eleanor this is Perrier, Perrier this is Eleanor. He's that Frenchmen I was telling you about."

The man polishing the glass put it down and slung the towel he was using over his shoulder. Being this close to him Eleanor took notice of his fierce gaze through a mop of light-brown hair that covered his face. His partially unkempt beard revealed a smile as he too studied Eleanor.

"How do you do Eleanor," he said with a slight accent. "You seem to be quite famished."

"Ah yes. I apologize for my manners. I have eaten anything in a while. You would not um have any more sandwiches would you?" A sheepish look turned serious on her face.

Perrier chuckled. "But of course. Anything for a pre…," Perrier halted midsentence when he saw a frown beginning to form on, his most regular patron, Diana's face. "…Friend of Diana." Perrier stooped under the bar, which was actually an old door, and retrieved an unusually large sandwich.

At that Diana got up from the bar trying to hide the flustered look on her face. "Well I've got some things to wash dears. Don't do anything I wouldn't do," she said with an edge as she walked off.

Shaking off the feeling of hostility being directed at her from somewhere, Eleanor eyed the tall sandwich hungrily. "So how much does it cost?"

"Free of charge my lady."

Eleanor frowned at him. "Perrier, won't Penelope be upset with you giving away free food?"

"Actually it is my own sandwich but I would be willing to part with half of it for a price," he replied with a queer smile. "A date, to accompany me on a light excursion through the better parts of Rapture or at least Fontaine Futuristic."

It was Eleanor's turn to chuckle then she nodded as she popped the olive that had been fixed on the sandwich. "All right I will go but no funny business."

"No, no funny business just fun." Perrier produced a table knife from under the bar and proceeded to slice up the sandwich into fourths.

Because of her suit, Eleanor found this tall sandwich even harder to eat than the first one. Her gloved fingers lacked the finesse to properly pick up the sandwich but she made do and ate silently.

Perrier took a couple bites out of his sandwich then stared at Eleanor. She immediately noticed and became slightly nervous.

"What? Do I have something on my face?" she asked wiping the sides of her mouth.

"Well you do have some mustard on your cheek," he replied as he retrieved a napkin and dabbed the side of her face. "It is your eyes Mademoiselle Eleanor. They do not carry a smile even when your lips do. What grief has found bound you. Haven't you been enjoying your stay here?"

Eleanor blushed a red hue all over then sighed. "Well this place is not exactly the tropics or Paris, France."

Perrier shrugged.

"I lost two people dear to me. One I swore to protect and the other… was my friend. And I do not know if I will ever see them again." tears spilled from her eyes.

Perrier gently admonished by making a clicking sound with his tongue. "But you will see them again. You just have to keep wishing. Trust me." Perrier gently reached over and dabbed her eyes dry then grasped Eleanor's gloved hand. "But your grief is a burden I cannot bear to watch. Until such time that you find your friends let me distract you from your misery."

**Author's Notes: Well you guys asked for more so mores here (don't know who invited him though). So ya I been reading your comments (reading them is like doing illicit substances can't stop) anywho one of you fine readers (cough Rickmer cough) left a comment saying this story just became a 1year old not too long ago. I checked the dates and (Updated: 1-19-12 - Published: 1-14-11) he was right. Rickmer you know more about my story than i do. SO how does it end? Was it any good? Jokes aside thank you for the b-day card and hence forth I unofficially give you the title: Time Keeper. Keep it up and I'll make you a time lord and you can be the next good doctor. Oh and my story almost has 10,000 hits so thanks everyone.**


	39. Rapture's lullaby

"But your grief is a burden I cannot bear to watch. Until such time that you find your friends let me distract you from your misery." Perrier silently stared at her.

"I-I would like that greatly. Thank you," she replied quietly.

"Good then it is settled."

Eleanor looked at his curiously. "What is settled?"

"A date. One that will release you from your demons." Perrier retrieved the now empty plate and placed it under the bar in a bin filled with other dirty flatware. "But you need your sleep and I have to finish work. You are welcome to my bed if you need a place to sleep; I won't be using of course. I will have someone wake you when the time comes."

Eleanor said nothing and nodded not caring to argue due to how fatigued she felt. She yawned as she got off her stool. Sleep felt good right about now and so did a warm bed.

Perrier looked after her with a concerned expression. "Do you know where the sleeping quarters are? There just down those stairs. My room's the last door on the left. I could show you…"

Eleanor shook her head. "No I'll be fine."

"Well until then. Au revoir my chérie."

Before Eleanor left she studied the newly made sign above the bar. It appeared that some of the letters had been smudged. The sign now read 'PENELOPE's FUBAR'. The suitable name left a grin on Eleanor's face even as she walked down the stairs.

"Didn't she seem a little down?"

"Huh, probably something she ate at the girl's bar."

"I don't think so, she seemed…"

The voices Eleanor heard were coming from through the door at the bottom on the stairs and just before her foot hit the last step the automatic door lifted revealing Max and Stanley walking towards her. Stanley had put on a fresh shirt while Max traded her leather jacket and trousers for a skirt with leggings and a shirt, similar to Stanley's, but the sleeves were cuffed to the elbows. Eleanor also noted the rifle resting on Stanley's shoulder, but the closed picnic basket Stanley was carrying held the biggest question for Eleanor.

"Oh, hey guys."

Max approached the girl and cupped her hands on Eleanor's face. "Eleanor, you look tired. Did it go okay with Mathew being there? Gil asked that we not say anything so you wouldn't… never mind that what did he say?"

Stanley propped his rifle against the wall and placed the basket behind it. He folded his arms and carried a serious look on his face. "Did Gil find anything out?"

Eleanor spent the next three minutes recalling what Dr. Alexander had said. She would have told them later but they needed to know. She knew they cared too much not to know.

"Hephaestus, huh," Stanley whistled. "Never thought I need to go there. Nothing sane lives there anymore. But your father? Do you even know who he is?"

Eleanor shook her head. Her eyes felt extremely heavy. "I never met my father and I do not think mother even knew. She left it up to the doctor." Eleanor, wanting to change the subject, pointed at the old picnic basket. "What are you guys doing?"

Stanley smiled and pulled Max closer. "Where going on a date. Diana told us how Perrier wanted to take you on a picnic and we thought we'd go on a picnic ourselves."

"You look beat. Wanna rest in our room?" asked Max.

Eleanor sleepily nodded and was silently grateful when Stanley assisted her to the room. Once inside even in her state Eleanor immediately noticed that the room smelled less musty than the hallway. The room itself had one small bed with candles lying around it. A toilet sink and mirror were on one side of the room while the other side had a small dresser and wardrobe. Next to the bed was chair to which Stanley helped Eleanor sit, as per Maxes instructions.

Max then handed the things she was carrying to Stanley and started to shoo him towards the door. "Stanley I need you to wait outside."

"Hmm?"

"Dear don't hmm me. I need to take care of Eleanor," Max retorted whispering that last part.

"Oh," Stanley replied blushingly.

Once the automatic door had closed Max turned her full attention to Eleanor. "Let's get you out of that dirty suit." Max proceeded to unscrew the metal wing-nuts that held the chest plate to the rest of the suit. Eleanor instantly felt light as air once the chest plate had been removed. With Max's assistance, Eleanor worked her hands and feet out of the suit leaving the suit lying on the ground like an abandoned exoskeleton.

Relieved of the suit, Eleanor would have immediately fell back on the bed if not for two hands that were fixed to her arms. "Max just let me sleep," she moaned.

"Oh no you don't." Max reached behind Eleanor and unclasped her Brassiere.

Eleanor's face blushed from the feeling of being exposed. "W-what are you doing?"

"You've been trudging through all of Rapture without keeping proper hygiene," Max replied tossing the dirty Brassiere on the floor then walked over to the dresser. "And while I do not have the right size brassiere for you," Max continued feeling slightly annoyed. "… I think are waists are about the same so try these on."

Eleanor gazed at the black lacy article. Without another word, Eleanor changed her unmentionables only to find a nightgown being handed to her.

"It was a gift from Stanley so be careful with it," Max admonished.

Eleanor nodded as she sprawled the gown over her head. Her arms and head soon found the appropriate gaps. Hardly a moment pasted before Eleanor had once again slumped back against the bed. Several blankets were drawn over her as she dug the side of her face into the pillow.

Before Max left she blew out the few candles that had been lit. "Eleanor," Max said almost whispering. "I hope you have a good time with Perrier but… be careful with him. He's can be- just be careful."

"Max," Eleanor replied her voice half muffled by the pillow.

"Yea?"

"Thank you. For everything."

Eleanor could barely make out Max's reply. Her head was clouded with sleep. The only thing she could hear was a clock that happened to be sitting on the ground right next to the bed. The sound of the minute hand coupled with the groans of Rapture formed a lullaby that drifted her off to sleep.


	40. Idle mind evil hands

It had only felt like moments since she had fallen asleep when Eleanor began to stir. Her first conscious thought was realizing that she had not dreamed. Not that she remembered any of the dreams she had been having. Most of the time she would just wake up startled or with a bad taste in her mouth. But not this time, this time she felt almost refreshed. With the exception of being very thirsty, Eleanor could have sworn that this had been the best sleep in ages.

Eleanor propped herself up on the bed and licked her lips. "But why?" she pondered. She mentally shrugged the question and promptly got out of bed. Still in her borrowed night gown, Eleanor wandered about the room looking for her suit when she noticed a scrap of paper sitting on the dresser with a paper bag beside it. She tried to read it but the low light that flooded in through the ceiling was not enough. Quickly fumbled around room, she found a box of matches beside the bed. Soon several candles eliminated the darkness.

_-Eleanor, hope you find this. I forced Stanley to take a side trip before _

_our picnic and pick up 'some things' for you. I had to trade _

_two of my best pair of heels to get it so I hope it fits. And I have a pair of boots_

_you can borrow- they will be on the floor of the wardrobe._

_-Max_

Beside the note was a thin paper bag. She opened the top and took out the piece of clothing. Having put it on she noticed the fit was snug but secure. Eleanor made a mental note to thank Max when she saw her next. She thought of her two friends enjoying their picnic and smiled. She then remembered her own date and realized she had nothing to wear herself. Concern quickly turned to anxiousness as she rushed past the dresser causing Maxes note to fall. When Eleanor picked it up she noticed more writing on the back.

_P.S. you can borrow one of my dresses except_

_the black one. Just be sure to keep it clean. I mean it. _

_You will find them in the wardrobe._

"Of course I would keep it clean," she replied annoyingly.

The wardrobe squeaked open revealing several sets of buttoned shirts and a couple dresses. Eleanor examined the individual dresses until she came upon a robin's-egg blue dress. It was strapless and had a pretty flower, made of the same material as the dress, sitting just to the right of the left shoulder. "Except the black one…"

Hardly giving a second thought, Eleanor slipped on the dress. She found the chest to be a little tight making it hard to zip in the back. Her hair, she had to do something with it. Eleanor looked in the mirror and tugged at the ends of her hair in dismay. Her fingers ran through each and every knot causing her to pause and fix them.

_My kingdom for a brush_, she thought. As Eleanor combed her hair, she thought of Perrier. He seemed nice and considerate but so did Mathew Parks. The event had left a cancerous blotch in her heart. In the end she just let it hang; which was pretty much all she could do in the first place. The last thing was the boots. They were there in the wardrobe, gathering dust, looked old and worn out, smelled funny…

"I think I will go without them," Eleanor declared. She cared about her feet too much to wear those boots. Just as she was about to leave the metal door opened permitting the hallway light to silhouette around a person.

"Oh, you're awake…," Diana replied with a hint of disappointment. "…And dressed too. Would you like some perfume? I have a lovely fragrance that would match that dress splendidly."

Eleanor blushed. "Oh no thank you. I never liked perfume or fragrance. But if you have a brush I could borrow…"

"Oh why of course my dear," said Diana in a voice dripping with honey. "I have hundreds of things to pretty up that head of yours."

Diana seemed to be enjoy mothering Eleanor a bit too much but she hardly took notice and was glad that of the two of them Diana actually knew what she was doing.

"Just the hair would be great."

Diana face soured up for a moment then melted as she led Eleanor through the metal door to her room. "Of course honey… but it is a real shame. Here sit down. My, your hair is rather in a state. This will take all my skill to fix."

From the moment Eleanor entered the room her eyes wandered about the room. It was like walking into a dimly lit four-star hotel. She saw a banister bed, oak wardrobe, cherry-wood serving tables with matching trays and a grand powder table with mirrors that reflected a person's face from several angles. But something was off about the room. It looked fancy but it smelled like… like a mixture of perfume and mildew.

When Eleanor sat down at the powder table she found the brass around the mirrors to be rusted. She rolled her eyes as far to the left as her head would allow and studied the wardrobe. The oak wood was very cracked in some places and fuzzy in others. As far as Eleanor could tell the entire room was in the same or similar state. Suddenly a harsh brush stroke tore through her hair almost tearing it off.

"Oh I'm so sorry dear; this goofy knot is giving me trouble. But I'm curious, what brings you to Fontaine Futuristics? The entire place seems to be in an uproar about you but I have yet to hear a thing. Be a good girl and tell Aunt Diana your story. But only the juicy parts," Diana stated with equally juicy lips as she swung her brush through Eleanor's hair a second time causing the girl to wince. Diana offered a half hearted sorry before Eleanor began.

Eleanor took a moment and sighed. "I can only remember my actual life when I appeared in Pauper's drop. Most of it was pain and confusion…"

For the next few minutes Eleanor told her short life's story only pausing when Diana found stubborn knots. She talked about Aunt Gracie finding her and the people of Pauper's drop attacking them. About Doc Johnson, Fred Tumble, and about Lucy Evansfield and Mathew Parks. How they had journeyed through most of Rapture only to find danger, betrayal and friends like Stanley Poole, Max, and Billy especially Billy.

As her story pressed on her found herself crying as she recounted the more recent events. A pure white handkerchief made of silk was handed too her by Diana. Eleanor whispered her thanks and dabbed her eyes but when she tried to return it Diana held up her hand. Eleanor turned towards Diana to see that she too had been crying.

"No, I want you to keep it dear. You need it more than me and when all is said and done I hope you give those brutes what's coming to them."

Both women giggled with red eyes.

"Now enough of this crying nonsense. You're about to go on a date, right? We cannot have my little Eleanor show off her beautiful hair with a sad face. hmm." Diana whirled Eleanor around allowing her to see in the mirror.

_My hair_, Eleanor thought. "It is really beautiful," she gasped in awe. Diana had transformed her hair completely. Every strand was braided and the braids were wrapped into a perfect bun. "But why Diana? Why go through all this trouble for someone you hardly even know?"

Diana sighed heavily. "Perrier asked me. He thought you would need help. The simple fool. And too be honest I wanted… Well I'm just a sucker for a good love-bird story."

"Lover-bird story? Me and Perrier? Oh no, I am not interested in him at all. He is nice looking and very courteous but he is not my type. But I am grateful for his efforts to cheer me up and yours Aunt Diana."

Diana's eyes lit up and she hugged Eleanor tightly then held her at arm's length. "And here I was worried about you. You'll give that boy a run for his money you snake charmer you. Well have fun with your picnic dear. And don't wait up cause I'm heading out too."

"Oh, and where are you going at this time of night Aunt Diana?"

Diana laughed "The night is young dear and I suddenly feel like shopping for some new furniture. These old things won't do anymore."

Eleanor smiled as she walked up the stairs outside the living quarters. "Well I hope you have fun shopping," she called back.

"I will dear and don't do anything I wouldn't."

**Author's Notes: Hi all readers of the world... all 24 of you. I finally reached chapter 40. Feels good. I really haven't been busy with this story but i keep chewing on it and come back and back again. I thought of a good climax. It involves [EDITED FOR GOOD REASONS]. Good ending huh. And at over 11,000 hits it should be a good ending. Anyway down to business: Seen the Avengers movie yet. NO? Then stop reading this crap and go see it for crying out loud. Seriously a good movie. The next thing i want to talk about is blah, blah, blah keep reading my story please blah, blah, blah not the droids you are looking for blah, blah dark side of the force blah, blah, go see avengers. THANKS FOR EVERYTHING GUYS!**


	41. The art of killing time

Eleanor had just made it up the stairs when she saw Perrier approach her from the bar. Behind him she could see Penelope sitting at on a bar stool, that was almost as tall as she was, and Teddy laughing together.

"Ah you are ready I see. Diana did a superb job," Perrier commented.

Eleanor turned away from Perrier as she felt her face turn slightly crimson.

Perrier sighed and rubbed his temples with his right hand. "But I am a mess you see," he continued pointing at several stains across his vest and shirt. "Miss Penelope's brother is what we call in France, a messy eater. I'll have to plead with Mademoiselle to clean it again."

"Who?"

"Oh, sorry. I mean Diana of course."

"Oh right." For some reason this seemed to bother Eleanor but she could not figure out why.

"So I will be back in five," he said as he scooped up her hand and kissed it. "Stay beautiful my chérie."

As he walked towards the stairwell with a slight strut Eleanor eyebrows arched slightly but she shook her head in dismissal. Considering she had more time to kill she decided to head over to 'Penelope's Fubar' and see what the two were doing. Teddy was desperately trying to read a newspaper with hands covered in saliva and food particles while Penelope was rearranging the shots glasses according to the colors of the rainbow. Apparently having given up Teddy stuffed the paper in front of his sister ruining her fabulous work. "What does this say?"

Penelope's face turned red and she clenched her fists but then she calmed down and flattened out the folds of her dress. "It says, Teddy dear," she replied with an edge, "Rioters in the streets; Ryan declares martial law."

Eleanor peered at the paper and realized it was ages old. The paper must have been published just before the splicers had torn through the streets. Aunt Gracie had told her all about it and how horrible and frightening it had been. How her next door neighbor, Mr. Bennet, had tried to help a copper who had fallen during the attack only to get himself killed.

Aunt Gracie would always say that old Mr. Bennet was good at two things: shining shoes and giving compliments. Whenever she paid him to shin her shoes he would pay her a compliment. Aunt Gracie would always hide her eyes after talking about Mr. Bennet. The reflection left Eleanor wondering if Aunt Gracie was okay.

"Pipsqueak what are rioters," Teddy inquired.

"People who are complete bums with no jobs and nothing to do but complain. But complaints do not fill ones tummy-er stomach," Penelope stated glaring at Eleanor. "And what do you want hmmm. Not satisfied taking away my hired help." Her hands went from the sides of her hips to being folded in front of her. "You look pretty." The little girl's face blushed in embarrassment. "Daddy's angry, you'll be sorry," she blurted out then continued fixing the shot glasses.

Eleanor smiled warmly then stretched her arms wide as she sat down. The bed had already begun to call her back even though she had just slept. "Why thank you Penelope. I did have some help though."

"I know. I gave Maxine the dress to use," the little girl whispered.

Teddy looked up from his paper again. "Hey what's martial law?"

Eleanor decided to reply this time. "It is the control and policing of a civilian population by military forces and according to military rules. Andrew Ryan ceased running through regulations and instead used an iron hand to rule Rapture."

Teddy still looked confused.

"Basically he gets to call the shots."

Teddy scratched his huge head. "Oh. I wish I could declare martial law. Sounds like fun."

Eleanor rested an arm on the big guys shoulder. "No you would not. You would make your sister very sad if you went around bullying people."

"I would not be sad at all," Penelope pronounced. "We make more money when Teddy bullies people."

Eleanor's face soured up. "Penelope that is not…"

"I'm back."

Eleanor turned to see Perrier approach them. He was still wearing the same black slacks and shoes but Perrier had changed into a crimson dress shirt. His neatly combed hair seemed to be the one thing he worried about the most because he kept dodging every time a drop of water threatened to ruin it. But even before he had even announced his arrival, Eleanor had smelled his cologne. It became stronger and more pungent the closer he came. By the time he was standing next to her, lifting a loose hair out of her face, she was feeling nauseous. In one hand was a bottle of champagne and in the other was an purple flower.

"The flower is for you. It is an orchid; one of the few flowers that bloom down here. In ancient time it was thought to have medicinal properties. I know you would like it."

Eleanor took the orchid from Perrier and breathed deep the fragrance emanating from the beautiful flower. "Thank you."

"Please allow me," Perrier replied. He took the orchid and nestled it between Eleanor's ear.

Eleanor tried to hide it but she was blushing. "So ready to go Perrier?"

"Ah yes." Before he left Perrier grabbed two glasses from behind the bar. He could feel the heat come from Penelope glaring at him. Perrier's pace picked up a little causing Eleanor to have to keep up.

Even from behind the crinkled paper, Teddy could feel that something was upsetting Pipsqueak. He unceremoniously folded the paper almost tearing it in half. "Don't worry Pipsqueak. I think Eleanor's okay. She's strong."

"I not worried about her," Penelope stated stomping her foot. "But Perrier took the best glasses in the house. He'd better bring them back or else."

"Best?"

"Yes Teddy. They were the only clean ones. Now I have to wash more."


	42. The snakes nest

The damp floor did not bother her. Having decided to forgo footwear of any kind Eleanor felt light and elated. She had worn the diver suit for several days causing a kind of claustrophobia. But between her beautiful light dress and naked feet… well she felt free. Unfortunately for Perrier, his feet were just plain cold. As they had been walking through Fontaine Futuristics, he had noticed Eleanor's lack of boots or shoes. He was forced to accept her answers, "Because I did not have any," and "I felt like it." After a short pause Perrier did likewise set aside his shoes aside on a dry tile. "If ze lady goes without shoes zen so will I." If Eleanor had paid attention she would have noticed the man's strange walking pattern as he dodged puddles and cracks on the floor.

The scenery was deadly silent and the soundless lull that past between Eleanor and Perrier was even worse. Nothing but the sound of dripping water.

Perrier decided to break the silence. "You're wearing a very lovely dress. It suits you much more than that horrible diving get-up."

"Oh, thank you. I just borrowed it from Max. I don't think my mother would like it though." _Mother_, she thought. Did she even have a right to call the real Eleanor's mother her own? Lost in thought, Eleanor did not hear Perrier's next question.

"Ehem," Perrier exclaimed trying to regain the girl's attention. "I waz just wondering what did you do before all this happened?"

"All this?"

"Uproar, turbulence, ze splicer rebellion that started it all."

"Oh… Oh! Well I was um… you know," Eleanor replied hesitantly. She could have said she was sucking the Adam out of half rotten corpses and being chased around by insane splicers but she could not, did not want to. "Nothing really."

The silence continued albeit reluctantly.

As they walked Eleanor suddenly remembered Fred and Billy. She prayed to the sisters of fate that they were safe and sound… especially sound. She realized how much time had passed since she had left Pauper's Drop, how much Fred probably missed his boys, and how much she wanted to give Billy a haircut. Eleanor pictured different hair styles and giggled at the thought of a couple of them.

Perrier immediately noticed her merriment. "What iz so funny? Is there something on my face?" The man pulled out a mirror and checked himself over. All he could find was a loose hair drawing small scowl across his face. They walked around a security station and down a flight of stairs. "Ah, we're here," he announced regaining his cheerful composure.

It was the main lobby where they had first entered. Hardly a day had passed since they had escaped deaths grasp only to receive a rude welcome within this hall. But now it was peaceful and silent. Only the wreckage and ruins remained to tell the tale. Eleanor slid her hand past the massive globe as she past it.

Meanwhile Perrier was retrieving an item from a hidden crack in the side of the stairs. He briskly returned to Eleanor's side with object in hand. It looked like a bundled piece of cloth.

Eleanor looked at it quizzically. "What is it?"

Carefully unraveling the piece of cloth, which turned out to be a table cloth, Perrier revealed a loaf of Italian bread at its center. He handed the golden loaf to Eleanor while he spread out the cloth. "It'z only a three dayz old," he explained. He then grabbed the champagne and glasses from where he had sat them down. "Penelope tried to buy up all the bread from an anonymous who lives in another part of Rapture but I secretly bought a loaf behind her back. The little oaf would be simply furious if she knew."

Eleanor giggled at his charade. Then her stomach growled at the thought of the bread in her hands.

(Pop)

Eleanor looked over and saw that Perrier had pulled out the stopper on the bottle allowing it to momentarily foam over beside him. He then poured a glass and held it toward her.

"My sweet Cherie, please allow me."

Eleanor traded the bread for the goblet. Now having the bread, Perrier broke it in half and offered one half back to her. Setting the bread on his lap, he then poured his own glass.

"Now, do as I do," Perrier stated dipping the torn half of his bread in the glass allowing the champagne to soak in.

Eleanor immediately followed suit then put the soaked end in her mouth. The bread was sweet and tingly to her tongue. She loved it. The bread melted in her mouth and the tingle went from the tip of her tongue to the ends of her fingers and toes. She began laughing in delight.

Perrier laughed with her. "Do you like it?"

She shook her head. "I do, I do. It tastes wonderful."

Soon they began talked merrily between bits and sips or both. Perrier asked questions about Eleanor who answered them without regard. Most answers Perrier thought absurd and laughed even harder until champagne came out of his nose burning his nasal passages and causing Eleanor to laugh even more. Soon they ran out of bread but their glasses never seemed to empty.

"You know Eleanor," Perrier began, "You are such a beautiful woman."

Eleanor blushed red and giggled from behind the sleeve of her dress. She shifted over to him and looked him in the eyes. "Oh, and just how am I a beautiful woman, Monsieur."

The held each other's gaze for a moment then broke out laughing again. Then Perrier reached out and pulled one of Eleanor's legs toward him.

"Your legs are like delicate stems blowing in the wind."He then clasped one of her hands. "Your handz are like ze soft leaves reaching for the sun. And…" He held her chin in one hand and gently pulled her closer. "Your faze is like blossom with jet black petalz drawing all around to… it'z… beauty."

The distance between their faces, their lips drew smaller but time itself seemed to stop. Eleanor felt a kind of heat rising from her chest stirring her up. As they were about to kiss the heat emulated throughout her entire body except for one spot.

The spot felt cold, clammy, and foreign. If she had been any more inebriated she probably would not have taken notice or cared but she did. The moment before their lips touched her eyes lowered to a spot on her leg were something seemed to be moving underneath her dress. Her first thought was that it was a snake crawling up her dress. She jumped away as best as one sitting could and frantically brushed the snake out from under her dress.

Perrier, who was just as startled, jumped sideways as well and retracted his one hand from her chin and recoiled his other hand from under her dress.

Eleanor started panting heavily. She cupped her head as the room started spinning round and round. In concern, Perrier held her shoulders but she immediately shook him off.

"Are you okay my chérie?"

Still breathing heavily, Eleanor turned and looked at what was really the snake. "Y-your hand."

"My hand?"

"I thought it was a snake crawling up my dress."

"Ah, so that is what startled you," he laughed lightly. "I'm am truly sorry. I got lost in the moment. Now where were we?"

Perrier tried to embrace Eleanor again but she threw him off. "You are a feisty woman. It makes you arousing. But here, have another drink perhaps. Your heart beating that fast cannot be good for you."

Eleanor held her refilled glass and stared at its contents. For a instant she hesitated and put her lips to the glass. But as the liquid touched her lips it made them feel cold and clammy just like his hand. Her eyes flashed toward Perrier. "You. You are the snake," she exclaimed. "And this is your venom," she yelled slinging the champagne at Perrier ruining his clothes.

With drink in hand, Perrier shot to his feet clearly outraged and for a second and a half did nothing but fume. His empty hand drew back ready to strike. "You- you wench," he shouted swinging his hand towards the girl at his feet. But his hand never connected nor even moved. Perrier, in his drunken stupor, had hardly realized his hand was not moving until her looked at his arm and saw someone holding it back. That someone was Mathew Parks.


	43. The last goodbye

That Person was Mathew Parks.

"W-what do you want," Perrier stammered. He roughly tugged his arm back and nearly lost his balance if not for Mathew grabbing his shoulder and up righting the drunkard. It was at this time that Mathew secretly poured a tiny amount of powder into Perrier's drink which instantly dissolved.

"I," Mathew replied definitively, "I need to speak with her. Now." Mathew walked over to Eleanor and roughly helped her to her feet. He pulled her off to the side by one of the vending machines whose glass face was noticeably missing. His eyes checked her over quickly then he frowned. "What are you doing?"

Eleanor felt a headache rack her brains. "What are you talking about?"

"I have been looking over all of blessed Rapture and this hell hole looking for you and here I find you gallivanting around with this bastard. You're sick and dying and Rapture could be wiped off the map at any moment. Yes, Doctor Gil told about the run-in you had with the madman. You have got no time for this." As he argued, Mathew took note of Perrier finishing off his glass who then broke it in anger.

Eleanor laughed scornfully, "You had time for me not so long ago. And I can have a good time if I want. You are not my father."

"Hmph. It seemed like a splendidly good time. Especially the part where you threw your drink at him."

"I will… I'll show you," Eleanor huffed. The marched over to Perrier and was about to kiss him.

"Wait don't," Mathew shouted grabbing her arm.

Eleanor turned around sharply and had just missed Perrier crumpling to the ground. He would end up lying there for the next few minutes until Teddy showed up, on Penelope's orders, to check on Eleanor. Teddy would end up bring them both back and unceremoniously dumping Perrier on his bed. Perrier would wake up later to a bad cold due to running around Rapture without any shoes and sleeping in wet clothes. To her endless delight, Diana was the one to recuperate the sick man back to health… but not too fast she would recall.

Presently Eleanor was thinking about another person she thought a snake: Mathew Parks.

"Let go of me," she seethed.

"Not until you stop acting like a child," Mathew declared.

(Smack)

Mathew's face stung and stung hard. In their argument he had either forgotten or did not care about what Eleanor was capable of doing. He could almost feel his brain rattling around. Mathew looked at Eleanor one more time. "Fine have it your way." He walked off.

Having walked past the security booth, Mathew made his way down another hallway where he stopped. He turned and punched the drywall only to splinter his knuckle on a stud. Gripping his broken hand he swore. Swore at the wall, swore at Eleanor, and especially swore at himself. He would have continued in this fashion if not for the electricity he saw crackling in the air beside him.

**Sometime in the future**

Andrew Ryan lay on the floor gasping for air and clutching his wound. He did not have much time and he knew it. But what was a dying man to do. He was completely out of options. He was a broken man- no a fish out of water: just flopping around helplessly. "I never wanted this to be my legac-" The end finally came to the man who had created paradise.

Eleanor was panting hard. It was finally over for her was well. The struggle for answers, for her life, and for Rapture itself was over. Everyone was free. Rapture was free and it was up to its inhabitants to protect it. But Mathew Parks was dead she thought.

She walked over to him and cradled his deformed head. "He was with me the entire time and I did not even know it," she stated weeping bitterly. "I never got to say goodbye." Then it hit her. She still had the metal object clasped to her arm and the machine still worked. She gently laid Mathew's head down and walked over to the machine. Eleanor turned several dials on the gadget on her wrist then activated the machine. Sparks flew through the air causing her hair to spike. Moments later she vanished.

**Present time**

Mathew watched in fascination as the sparks coalesced into an oval that hovered in the air. Eleanor, if it was really her, leaped out of the portal into Mathew's arms. He tried to catch her but drew back because of his broken hand.

Eleanor looked at him tenderly. "Mathew! Oh, let me help you." She proceeded to heal his hand then his face where she had hit him. "I was always sorry I hit you."

Mathew felt a wave of questions arise "Was always sorry? What do you mean? And where did you come from?"

"I-I came from the future."

Mathew could hardly believe this to be truth but Eleanor definitely was not lying. "But why?"

"Because I never got to say goodbye twice," Eleanor exclaimed.

**Author's Notes: Having most of the end panned out I still wonder how much i'll need to change to fit the rest of the story. I haaaaate it but it the evolution of this story. Let me know what you think.**


	44. The first reason

_It's the waiting_, she realized. Grace had cleaned her entire house for tenth time. It had been at least over two weeks since her little girl had left. Having worried the entire time, Grace had obtained a gray hair for each day Eleanor had been gone.

To keep herself from fretting too much she had decided to clean her small house. Even the second floor was immaculate which was a real pain given the fact that Grace's knees were not what they use to be. But she cleaned the house top to bottom and when she finished she cleaned again. Cleaning and fretting seemed to be what she did best. In fact she had just finished dusting Eleanor's room. _Darn that girl for not contacting me_, she continued.

As Grace left the room a yellow light peered from inside the window barley escaping the woman's notice. The light flashed left and right then dropped past the window sill.

Meanwhile Grace was making her way past to the kitchen. She had put the pot on for some tea and it was due to boil any moment. The moment she entered the room the tea pot began whistling full tilt. Grace mentally patted herself on the back. She had always been good at timing the pot. Having put her walking stick aside, she set out a cup for herself and grabbed an old tin full of tea bags. Two tea bags dropped into the cup closely followed by steaming water. Grace stirred the contents until the water turned crimson red. Grace lifted the tea bags out and set them on the counter.

(Meow)

A familiar face jumped up on the counter next to the old woman. Having been startle, Grace recovered quickly clutching her chest. "Nemo, you little rascal," Grace chastised then scratched his ears. "You nearly gave me a heart attack. Oh fine play with the them." She chuckled quietly.

Nemo, her little kitten, loved to play with the tea bags the second Grace lifted them out of her cup. At first she had been worried the kitten would burn his paws but the little guy was fine. She scratched his ears while he busied himself batting one of the tea bags.

Grace pleasantly shook her head and picked up her cup putting it too her lips. To her taste buds it seemed like pure bliss was washing over them. Black-cherry tea, it was her favorite and most coveted tea. The old tin, which she had brought from the surface, carried only a few more… to her dismay.

Grace allowed herself a third sip then put the cup down just as a loud knock echoed throughout the house. Nemo skidded sideways, his fur on end, and hissed furiously.

"Oh Nemo be nice," Grace replied grabbing her walking stick. As she grew closer to the door the knocking grew heavier hastening her steps. "I'm comin. I'm comin already. No need to break the door on account of…"

Grace, having opened the door, nearly had whoever was knocking fall onto her but the person was held back by some unseen force.

"Jacob," she gasped.

Jacob was one of her neighbors who lived a couple houses over. Living by himself, he was always out of his house tending his small garden. The garden mostly was made up of vegetables that did not need vast amounts of sun light and what little they did need he would provide by using a special lamp he had bought back before the splicer uprising. He was always kind and would share his produce with Grace.

But Grace could tell something dreadful had happened to the man. He was very pale and was clutching his stomach with one hand while the other was weirdly propped skyward like he was still knocking. The man was moaning and looked like he should have passed out minutes ago.

"Mr. Jacob what on earth happened?" She reached for the hand clutching his stomach and gingerly pulled it away to reveal soggy, red blood soaking through his shirt just below his sternum.

Grace gaped at the oozing wound. "Heaven help us."

Just as she was about to rush the dying man into the house his upraised arm suddenly dropped allowing the rest of the body to slump to the ground.

The old woman looked in horror as Jacob's arm slid off a shiny metal tube that had been propping his arm and body aloft. The yellow light from the Big Sister's helmet turned red just as the dying man's body came to rest between her and Grace.

Grace stood still, her mouth slightly agape, as her mind struggled to process what had just happened. Her hand shook as she unknowingly white knuckled the knob of her cane. The Big Sister drew her hands back and inhaled. She screamed. Like nails on a chalk board. Like unfettered hatred and years of frustration audibly unleashed.

It shook Grace's soul. It shook her back to her senses. "monster," she whispered quietly under the din. "Monster," she screamed in reply. Her hands held her cane firmly and she swung it with all the might she could muster. The thick knob of her cane connected with the Big Sister's porthole shattering it.

The Big Sister fell backward and screamed again but this time in agony. Her face, cut up by the glass, mended quickly but healed over the shards. The deformed girl tried to rub her face but the helmet would not allow her too. She thrashed around wildly with fire surging from her finger tips. This time Grace was the one to fall backwards while trying to escape the flames that lapped around her.

As the girl got to her feet Grace saw the Big Sister's eyes: they bled cold hatred, vengeance, and murder. She took one step toward Grace when another Big Sister appeared behind the first. The second Big sister drove the first to her knees with ease. It took a moment to stare at Grace then plunged its large syringe down the first Big Sister's spine. The girl thrashed as her body tried to repair itself but to no avail for she no longer had Adam.

The Big Sister extracted her syringe letting the corpse fall beside Jacob's now dead body. Meanwhile Grace was struggling to get back to her feet when she felt something hit the back of her head knocking her out. Her last conscious thoughts were to warn Eleanor.

The Big Sister bent over to lift Grace's unconscious body and found a little kitten rubbing the old woman's head with his own. The girl slowly reached out to pet the little kitten but when Nemo noticed he hissed and sank his teeth into one of her gloved fingers. The kitten ran up the stairs and hid in the bedroom. The Big Sister picked up Grace's body and, after taking another look towards the house, disappeared.


	45. A story of Grace

Grace Holloway was born and raised in Saint Louis Missouri. Her parents Jeb and Agatha Holloway were good people. Jeb tirelessly worked at the factory to keep that house over their heads while Grace's mother kept it clean and warm. Agatha's mother had been a slave before the American Civil War and had been taught how to keep a house cleaner than the hallways of heaven. As such, Agatha had all but beaten the spirit of cleanliness into her daughter, Grace.

Before Grace was born, Agatha Parks was just a simple cleaning lady and a damn good one at that. She had met Jeb through unusual circumstances and after several month of courting they were married. When Jeb started working at the factory, he bought a small house just outside of town. The house did not look like much at first because its previous owners had abandoned it but Jeb knew a good deal and Agatha knew value when she saw it. She swept, mopped, dust, and repaired the place until it was the envy of their neighbors.

They both were happy for several years until a small fear crept up to them. Jeb set aside several pay checks and worked all the hours allowed so that he could send his wife to see the best doctors in the state. And even with the money it took several weeks before they could find a doctor that would accept their kind. But find a doctor they did and he confirmed their fears: Agatha could not have children. She was fertile but the doctor explained some mumbo-jumbo stating that having children was not possible.

His condolences fell on deaf ears as the Holloways returned home and back to their lives. Jeb continued to work hard to buy things that would take Agatha's mind off the matter but she was heart-broken. It was not until that spring that her heart mended when she found she was pregnant. She had all the neighbors over once her stomach ballooned up.

The first time Jeb ever took a leave of absence from work was to take his wife to the doctors only to find out that she could not have any children. Now he would do the same to be there when the baby was to be delivered. According to the hospital records, Agatha had endured the longest labor time to date. But when she held the tiny baby in her arms she pulled Jeb close and told him that she had prayed and prayed hard. Agatha declared that God had shown her his everlasting grace by giving her this baby. It was only fitting then that they named her such: Grace.

Raising a child turned out to be a new challenge for Mr. and Mrs. Holloway but it was nothing they could not handle. The girl grew up strong and hardy but what surprised her parents was how well she could sing. Despite her modest behavior, her singing was so good several establishments approached her. But when she learned that most if not all offers would force her to leave her parents she refused. Grace opted to sing in the choir at their church and at social gatherings instead. After a month, all recruiting agents ceased knocking down her parent's door. The one good thing about all the publicity was that finding a job in the city was easy. Grace went home every day with her earnings and added them to their savings.

Grace considered her teenage years to be some of the happiest years of her life. The Holloway's were not poor. To be honest, between her father's new position in the factory and her mother's part time job as a cleaning lady, they were nowhere near poor. But everything changed that tragic day when Jeb did not come home. Grace and her mother found out later that a part of the old factory had collapsed trapping several men. Jeb ended up dying after having freed those men when debris collapsed on top of him. Friend and neighbors came to the closed-casket funeral. Some even came to hear her sing which brought on another bought of recruiting agents looking for her stardom. But unlike before, these carpetbaggers with their mock sympathy were met with distain and slammed doors.

A week after the funeral a representative from the factory approached them stating that Jeb Holloway, given his years of service and station, had acquired several benefits that, by law, were to be passed on to the spouse in the event of the employee's death. At first, Agatha Holloway was appalled and refused the money stating that she was a good, hard working woman and did not need any handouts. But Grace changed her mind when she reminded her mother that this was daddy's way of taking care of them after his passing. Begrudgingly her mother accepted the money. In the end it saved them from spending their savings before they really needed them which would come soon.

When Grace was in her late teens the Great Depression hit worldwide. Prices went up everywhere and everything was scarce. Produce shortages, dairy shortages, grain shortages, and even coal became in short supply. Grace and her mother took on several more jobs just to pay for food. When the factory could no longer afford to pay the benefits, the Holloway's had to dip into their savings and even sell some of their valuables. During this time tempers ran high and feuds even higher. Suspicious and greedy eyes turned toward the Holloway's residence. Old prejudice fueled by ignorance and desperation caused some of their newer neighbors to suspect the Holloway's of stealing. When the police came and searched the house they found a jar stuffed with money and expensive jewelry. Agatha Holloway was taken in custody and questioned while Grace went to the police station daily to plead for her mother's release on the basis that she was innocent. The police would not budge stating that the case was still under investigation.

The trial was to take place in a month. In that time Grace visited her mother in jail and went around town finding people who would be character witnesses. Almost everybody knew Grace because of her singing and the Holloway's were, for the most part, like by the community. Most were afraid to step forward but a couple of people who had worked at the factory including Jeb's old boss said that they would intercede the Holloway's behalf. Things were looking like they might come out all right until Grace's mother became sick with pneumonia in jail. As it turned out, she had been treated poorly during her incarceration because most of the police precinct believed her to be guilty. She had been given little food and bad water and so became sick.

When all this came to light Agatha Holloway was immediately transported to a local hospital to be treated. The pending investigation and charges against her were halted for the time being and new charges against the police were pressed. To the disgust of many these charges never went anywhere and the entire ordeal swept under the rug. Meanwhile Grace visited the hospital to see her mother's will slowly break under the pneumonia. When Grace realized that the doctors could not do anything for her mother she resolved to sell all their possessions, including the house, in hopes of using the money to find a better doctor. But by the time everything was sold and money collected, Agatha Holloway had passed on in her daughter's arms. Agatha Holloway was buried next to her husband in a cold, fall rain and no singing was heard that day.

With no home to go back to and a wallet full of money, Grace stayed at a faithful neighbor's house while she planned her next move. One day she read the paper in search of jobs when she read an article about a wildly rumored place called Rapture. Grace did not think much about it and thought the promises and dreams preached by the rumor to be folly. It was at her evening prayer that she remembered her mother's last words. "With all the strife go-in on in the world. The Lord should be comin soon. Keep lookin at the sky baby girl. I'll see you at the… Rapture." Seeing this as a sign, Grace left without a world. She looked out the back window of a taxi-cab and bid the world that had brought her such happiness and pain goodbye. St. Louis Missouri would never see nor hear of Grace Holloway again.

**Author's Notes: It's been too long avid readers. Remember when i said that I knew how i wanted my story to end. Well it turned out that knowing how i wanted it to end only gave me writers block b/c I didn't know how to get to that point. Lame, lame, lame. Well anyway most of that is over b/c i have pieced together most of the plot to the end. Now i just have to write it out. This chapter was suppose to start the next bit of plot but became its own entity. Not so much violent as just a happy/sad backstory during one of our countries most trying times and the mistakes that went along with it. Hope you enjoyed it.**


	46. The best of times part 1

**Ch. 46**

Grace Holloway had spent more than half of her adulthood in Rapture. She never told a soul how she found the ship that took all ethnicities below the water's surface and away from the strife and worries of the topside. That was an unspoken rule for all citizens of Rapture. They all escaped their past predicaments to start a new life as they saw fit.

It was here in Rapture that Grace Holloway began her career. Having grown up around her parent's ideals, her songs targeted Rapture's second and lower classes. She decidedly moved to Pauper's Drop, not because it held her target audience, but to be around familiar people who were like her. She found her stage and entered the spot light. Her voice carried hope for the struggling and peace for the weary. Soon every miser and beggar traveled afar to the Limbo Room to hear her sing and count their blessings.

One such troubled soul found her music so moving that he felt almost drawn to her. If not for his timidity he would have approached her a long time ago. Instead the man came to every one of her shows. Grace was no fool and noticed the handsome man that was so devoted to see her singing. When she inquired about the mysterious man the bartender informed her that the man called himself Carver. One night Grace approached him at the bar and offered to buy him a drink. He asked for a shot of their hardest liquor. The man down the shot quickly then replied in a very dry voice that his name was James Carver.

Grace found a close friend in James and soon that friendship blossomed into love. They held a small wedding at the Limbo Room on one of the nights it was randomly closed. Grace Holloway counted these happy days to be second to that of her childhood. Her music even seemed to improve even as the shadows grew throughout Rapture. It was only until she found, like her mother, Grace could not conceive any children that she realized how sinful Rapture had become. The news was like a wake-up call from a very beautiful dream. Her pain and suffering allowed her to see the suffering of Rapture's people. Even her husband James saw it and refused to sit back idly but remained at Graces side because she pleaded with him to not leave. Instead they both wrote songs together. Songs that pinned Andrew Ryan for neglecting his duties and for not maintaining the peace in Rapture. With propaganda in hand Grace Holloway summoned the entire capacity her chest would allow and sang the woes of Rapture. Even after being black-listed by Andrew Ryan the people still listened. While Grace sang, James passed out leaflets to her fans. Beyond his wife's knowledge, the flyers contained instructions to those willing enough to step forward and change what was wrong with their world. And then one night after a show James crawled into bed next to Grace. He kissed her on the forehead.

Grace turned toward him. "What was that for honey?"

"Nothin, just can't believe what a lucky guy I am. You know something? I would go to the ends of the earth for you," he stated entangling his fingers through hers while doing the same with his toes.

"I know baby," she replied kissing him and giggling. She rolled over on top of him and kissed him again. She grasped his hand and held it to her cheek. "I would do the same for you."

James lay with his wife in the bed he had bought for her as a wedding present. It was so soft and comfy that when they first used it on their wedding night all they could do was cuddle before falling asleep. But that night was different. It was the last time Grace fell asleep next to James only to wake up…

"Alone," Grace stated hoarsely. She licked her lips and found her mouth dry. Having noticed a glass of water on the familiar nightstand, Grace grabbed the cup and drank deeply until she was sated. As she drank she felt the familiar pang in her jaw from when it had been broken.

'Broken,' she thought. Grace immediately started choking on what little water was left and spewed it out. Her groggy mind snapped back to the present. She remembered the devil big sister killing one of her neighbors and nothing or at least she did not remember anything else. But why was she dreaming about James at a time like this. Maybe it was this bed, it felt…

"Familiar?" a voice boomed around her.

The voice ended just as abruptly as it had begun but it rang true. The bed was the same but even more, the sheets smelled of her beloved James. The pictures, the bookshelf, nightstand, lamps, even her nightgown were so familiar; too familiar. She got up and grabbed her cane, not the least bit surprised it was there, and made her way to the kitchen and bathroom and found them the same. But when she opened the front door to the small apartment she found a metal door with a tiny slit blocking her path. As she peered through the hole she saw not Pauper's drop but a vast room. In what she gathered was the center of the room was a colossal mess of wires surrounding a computer. Next to the computer was a giant metal ring. But what caught her attention next was the same voice booming throughout the massive place.

"Welcome to Hephaestus Grace Holloway. For your viewing pleasure why don't you go back to your bedroom?"

Grace did not reply but clenched the ball of her cane until the blood rushed out of her fingers. She silently complied and, once in her room, sat at the foot of her bed. Grace inhaled deeply before staring coldly at the screen. "Who are you and where have you taken me and for what purpose."

The voice chuckled mildly. "You know I remember hearing so much of your praise that I actually went to one of your shows. I came in disguise of course. And even if your singing did lack a some-what refined tone you definitely had spirit. You had a spirit that connected to the people, a spirit that could rouse the people. You really left me know choice but to black-list you like so many others who wished to tarnish my name. That said, I always like that no nonsense attitude of yours."

"You… Andrew Ryan? But your dead"

"As so many have wished but it was not to be."

Grace grasped both ends of her cane and held them till her fingers hurt. "So you just decided to waltz out of your watery grave and hurt the people some more? You are a sick man. And you will pay for your sins in this life as well as the next."

Andrew Ryan maliciously laughed for a few moments. "Ah yes, I remember you having such a lively spirit even after being blacklisted. You did eventually stop but I cannot recall why."


	47. The worst of times part 2

Andrew Ryan maliciously laughed for a few moments. "Ah yes, I remember you having such a lively spirit even after being blacklisted. You did eventually stop but I cannot recall why."

Grace's eyes leapt towards the screen. Her features hardened and a tear rolled down her cheek. "Y-you… You sent me James's finger." A wave of memories erupted like and old wound being reopened. She had worried about James each day only to wonder if they would ever be together again. Then came to day the Limbo Room received a package addressed to Grace. For some unnerving reason she did not want to open it. But she did.

She ended up taking it home. She licked her dry lips and decidedly opened the letter with shaky fingers. One peek inside sent a shriek from her lips. She immediately dropped the envelope and fearfully stepped back towards the kitchen sink. The envelope hit the tiled floor with a resounding clank that pierced the silence. Grace breathed heavily with her hand clutching her chest. Slowly, she kneeled down and gingerly picked up the envelope. Her eyes locked on the severed finger inside and she froze in place just staring at it.

Twenty minutes later one of her stage hands, Liz, found her in her house hunched over the envelope. It took another minute of shaking and calling Grace's name before she came to. But Grace, she broke out in tears. Bitter tears fell from Grace's face for a long time after that. . When she was not crying, she was sleeping and sleep almost never came to her aide. Her James was dead. He was dead and never coming back.

"Haha ha ha," Andrew Ryan bellowed. "Ah yes, I remember now. Quite the imagination back then. Well actually it was not my idea. I was just going to have you killed but my advisors informed me that you were too popular and killing you would give the other side a martyr. So I informed them that I would get rid of them if they could not get you to stop. It took them so long that I had them killed anyway. Complained too much anyway but back to business".

The Andrew Ryan clasped his hands together and pursed his lips. "You're here to serve my purposes and at the moment that means you living here until all the pieces are in place. The house is a… well a gift. A sort of apology for the circumstances between then and now. And know that I never meant for any of this to happen and shall be rectifying and eliminating all of Rapture as it ought to be."

"A gift?" Grace got up from the bed and squared herself towards the screen. "A gift," she almost whispered. "My husband was murdered. His blood is on your hands." By this time Grace was yelling at the top of her lungs. She heaved her cane and brought it down on the screen smashing it to pieces. "Heaven help me, just about every dead soul down here has a stain on your hands. To justify your ends you'd unmercifully kill thousands. To appease what is left of your guilt-ridden disfigured conscience you'd house me in the one place I… that I never wanted to see again?" Grace fell back on the bed and dropped her cane on the glass covered floor.

Grace could no longer see the man's face having smashed the screen but the audio continued.

"I won't ask for your forgiveness, but I am very sorry for what happened. It was never my intention for any of this to happen. I was forced to make a lot of tough decisions. Decisions, I'm afraid, that I made very poorly despite my bet intentions. All shall be set right in the end."

Grace heard a metallic click and heard no more senseless chatter around her. She sat in silence for several minutes then wiped her moist cheeks and carefully picked up her cane. Stepping around the broken glass, Grace made her way to the living room. She studied the bookshelf and "humped" when she realized all the books were the same. She grabbed one of her favorite books, it had been a present from James, and sat down to read. At first Grace found it hard to concentrate because the nostalgia was driving her batty but soon the book held her attention.

She was about fifty pages in when she heard a noise coming from outside the house. Grace paid no attention to it until she heard it again. She decidedly closed the book and slowly got to her feet to investigate. "Page 53," she muttered, "page 53."

Grace peeks through the metal door and sees no signs of movement. Her eyes quickly adjust to the darkness and she sees a lone figure creeping about the massive room.

"Hello," Grace called out. "Who's there. Can you help me get out of here?"

The figure had apparently heard her for it was making its way towards the small house. As it moved, Grace heard nothing of its footsteps. The lone figure approached the metal door apprehensively.

Grace had no idea who this person was but she figured anybody that had to sneak around his floor was no friend of Andrew Ryan's. Of course, she realized, this was a gamble but she would let herself be manipulated by anyone especially Ryan.

Having received no reply Grace picked up her cane and broke the silence with a loud smack on the metal door.

The figure nearly jumped and looked like it was going to attack but returned to its former posture.

"You, yes you. Can't you hear me?"

The figure lifted its arms and unscrewed what Grace realized was a mask. Yellow glowing eyes peered through thick hair. Grace grew fearful and took several steps backwards until the figure spoke.

"Eleanor?" it asked. Obviously a masculine voice, the man lifted his head and sniffed the air. "ELEANOR," it screamed.

Sudden rage also filled Grace. "You. You monster, how do you know my baby-girl Eleanor. If you so much and touch her I will…"

The man- no not man but teenager or so Grace could figure yelled again. "She betrayed me! She left me to die. I will KILL HER." In his rage, the boy stabbed the door with the long metal needles attached on his arms almost piercing Grace through.

Suddenly the entire room sounded like nails on a chalk board as screams, shrieks, squeals pierced Grace's ears causing her to contort in pain. The lights around the room activated just in time for Grace to witness a big sister leap towards the teenage boy to had just enough time to slam his helmet back on. Having dodged the big sister's first attack he growled and charged at her. The big sister shrieked again and leapt right back at him. Her intent was to pierce his heart when she realized that he was pulling her faster with telekinesis.

Feeling quite sick, Grace watched as the girl seemingly flew towards the boy only to be impaled in the head and abdomen by the boy's unusually large needles. As the boy tossed the lifeless corpse to the floor more infuriated big sisters showed up. The teenage boy looked once and Grace then bolted from the room with throngs of evil beings following him. It was unnervingly quiet again. Grace exasperatedly sighed in annoyance then returned to her chair. "Page 53… page 53."


End file.
